Heart Shaped Stitches
by Lialane Graest
Summary: Stein and Marie are gravely injured, leaving Spirit and Azusa to have to rescue them once they are left behind enemy lines. What will happen after the rescue? Chapter 19 will be the conclusion to the actual story.I'll continue on with SteinxMarie one shots, so keep on reading. SteinxMarie and SpiritxAzusa. Thanks for the reviews!
1. Heart Shaped Stitches

"Help! Someone help me!" The voice was shrill. Feminine. Familiar?

Dr. Franken Stein pushed the rubble off his chest and stood unsteadily to his feet, cranking the screw in his head backwards.

Marie.

It was Marie's voice.

"Marie! Where are you?" Stein called out, nearly choking on the dust in the air.

"Stein! I can see a large statue! Please, hurry!" Her voice dissolved into a chorus of coughs.

Looking around, Stein pinpointed the statue Marie had mentioned. Focusing was hard, but he eventually picked her soul out and was moving towards her.

"Don't stop talking, Marie. Say something, anything. Tell me about the wedding. The one you want to have."

There was no response.

"Marie! How many guests! Marie!" Stein was at a run now, knowing that there was nothing short of death that would keep Marie quiet when it came to weddings and boyfriends.

His speed was reckless. His fear, real. He knew something was wrong, the bright soul in front of him was fading.

_'I can't lose her.'_

"Marie! Answer me!" A weak cough was the only answer he got as he dropped to his knees beside the blonde death scythe."Marie, hang on."

He was weak, a fact magnified that he nearly fell as he stood up, Marie cradled in his arms. Leaning against a fallen pillar, he carefully reached up to turn the screw in his head, Marie's breathing becoming more and more shallow as she lay in his arms.

_'How? How do I get us out of here? How do I save her?'_ Stein thought desperately.

And it clicked. With a clank, the screw turned over, and so did his thoughts. He could see it so clearly now, the wavelength of her soul. Closing his eyes for a second he reached out to it, resonating with it, feeling the weakness of it, and trying desperately to share his strength with her.

He was rewarded when he felt her hand lay itself against his chest.

Unwilling to break the resonance, Stein looked up at the pit they were in, following each potential path, trying to find the one that would lead to the way out. It took him a long minute to locate it.

Fifteen minutes later an exhausted Stein climbed out of the pit, Marie draped across his back. Carefully laying her down, Stein stood and looked around them, seeing none of his current teammates. He looked down at Marie, realization dawning.

_'We took too long. They had to retreat... they left us for dead.'_ Stein collapsed beside Marie.

"What do I do now, Marie?" He whispered. "I'm too weak, too injured to carry you. But I can't leave you. I could never do that."

Putting his hand to his side, he withdrew it to see that it was covered in his own blood. Shedding tears he didn't even know he had, he pulled Marie into his arms before unconsciousness claimed him.

* * *

"YOU LEFT THEM?" Azusa's voice, normally so calm, held a hint of murder.

"Look, we didn't have a choice. The retreat sounded. We had to-" Sid's face jerked to the side as Azusa slapped him as hard as she could.

"YOU LEFT MARIE. YOU LEFT STEIN." Sid couldn't believe that the normally no-nonsense Death Scythe was crying, openly.

Azusa whirled on her heels, leaving the room.

"Where are you going?" Sid called from behind her.

"Where the hell do you think, Sid? TO GET THEM!"

The door slammed shut.

* * *

Azusa slumped against it before opening her eyes to see Spirit Albarn standing in front of her.

"Azusa, I heard. You weren't exactly quiet in there. You don't have to do this alone. Hell, what could you do? You can't exactly pull your own trigger." He put his hands on her shoulders, a smile playing on his lips.

"But you don't have to be alone, Committee."

"Thanks, Spirit. We have to hurry."

"No worries. But we have a small problem." He said as he moved closer, almost close enough to kiss her as he whispered in her ear.

"We're both weapons."

Azusa, having regained some of her composure pushed her glasses back up on her face. "I'm sure we can find a couple of meister's ready and willing to help us."

* * *

"Maka. Kid. Black*Star. Thanks." Azusa said over her shoulder.

"If it's to help Ms. Marie and Professor Stein, do you really think we would say no?" Maka asked.

"Yes, we're more than willing to help." Kid replied.

"Yahoo! I don't know why you think that you had to bring the others, but you can always rely on me!" Black*Star shouted.

"We'll be there shortly. Kid, since you're the most used to working with a ranged weapon, you'll be the one laying down cover fire with me if it's necessary. Black*Star will go with Maka and Spirit for close quarters fighting." Azusa pushed her glasses up again. "This may not be so easy, we only have a rough idea of where they went down."

"We'll find them, Committee." Spirit said, resting his hand on her shoulder, which she promptly shrugged off.

Stars crossed Spirit's eyes, "And you'll be working with me, Maaakkkkaaa. My little girl, finally we'll be sharing some bonding time!"

Maka side stepped her father as he came barreling towards her and said, "Sheesh. Have some control."

"We're here." Azusa said.

* * *

"Maka, you can sense their souls, can't you?" Kid asked.

"I'm trying, but I'm not getting anything. It's like this place is abandoned." Maka squinted her eyes, looking around her. "Wait, there's something coming from the other side of that pit... It's Professor Stein!"

"And Marie?" Azusa's voice asked from her gun form.

"I... I can't tell..."

It took them another ten minutes to get to the other side of the pit, and none of them could believe the sight.

Leaning, propped up against a pillar, Professor Stein was barely breathing. There was a pool of blood around him, some still seeping from a nasty gash in his side. Laying against his chest, Marie was pale as a ghost, the only thing letting them know that she wasn't dead was Maka's reassurance that she could still see her soul.

"But... they're both close to death... they're souls are so thin and transparent right now..." Maka whispered, still not wanting to believe that the people in front of her were really that badly injured.

"Then we can't waste a second. Let's move!" Spirit called out, his stomach twisted into knots at the sight of his former meister so hurt.

* * *

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Stein reached out, then felt his arm stop sooner than it should have, someone's hand pushed against his wrist.

"Stein, don't. It's the life support machine, not your alarm." The voice was familiar.

Reaching up tentatively, Stein moved to turn the screw in his head, and couldn't stifle a gasp when the same hand caught his arm again to stop him, then turned the screw for him.

"Again..." Stein managed to croak out, feeling the person oblige, his eyes still closed, the light far too bright.

"Spirit." He opened his eyes, blinding himself.

"Yeah."

"Marie!" Stein felt all of his muscles go rigid, his pains forgotten in a second. "Spirit, where is she?" His hand grasped Spirit's arm.

"Relax, Stein, just look to the right."

Forcing himself to relax, Stein looked to his right and felt tears run down his cheeks in relief. Laying in the next hospital bed over was his beautiful Marie, her soul bright and shining again, though something looked off. Stein just couldn't focus.

"How, Spirit? We were goners."

"You have Committee to thank for that. She slapped Sid when she found out what happened and that they had returned without you. She then organized a rescue party and came to save your ass." The redhead smirked.

"And Marie?"

"Well, from what they tell us, without you she wouldn't have made it. Maka says that it looked like your soul was wrapped around hers. She couldn't explain it."

Stein looked harder at Marie's soul, and found what was off. Along the bottom edge of her soul were stitches... and they formed a heart. Stein started laughing and couldn't stop.

"What's so funny, Stein?"

"Love."

"You must be a little loopy from the medicine yet, Stein." Spirit said shaking his head. "Need another turn to get back to yourself?"

"I can manage." Stein said. "How is she, really?"

"Well. She was awake earlier and asking about you. Told her the same thing I told you, to look over. She cried too."

"Senpai, thank you for making sure we were in the same room."

"It's not him you should be thanking, Stein." Azusa Yumi walked into the room.

"Well, then Committee, thank you. And thank you for coming to get us."

"Never thought I'd hear you say thank you twice in one breath, Stein." Azusa stated, pushing her glasses up. "Spirit, we should get them something to eat and drink. Let him rest a bit."

"Whatever you say, Committee." Both of them left the room, and Stein was left staring over at Marie.

"Marie?" He called out several times before he heard her reply.

"Franken?"

"Marie, you're alright. I thought I had lost you." His voice cracked, emotions he had never been able to understand pressing down on him.

"How, Franken? How did you save me? I know I was dying... I could feel it. I just didn't have the strength to fight it. Then... what did you do, Franken?" She looked at him.

"I don't know what I did. I just resonated our souls and refused to let go... I'm sorry, Marie. I seem to have made a mark on your soul by doing so..." His voice trailed off and he looked away.

"Really?" She asked. "What is it?"

"... A stitched heart." He looked back at her.

She blinked."A... heart?"

"Yes... it's on the bottom, a stitched heart."

"Franken?"

"Marie?

"Thank you."

He released a breath he didn't know he was holding, and turned his head back to look at the ceiling.

"Marie?"

"Yes, Franken?"

"I... I love you."

There was no response from the bed beside him.

Hearing movement he looked back to find Marie staggering towards his bed, her IV following her. His eyes grew wide as she climbed up onto his bed and curled against his side.

"I love you too. I always have." She said as she kissed his cheek.

Stein wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. He smiled as she drifted off to sleep against his side.

Spirit and Azusa just smiled from the other side of the door.

* * *

A/N: I enjoyed writing this, though it came out longer than I had thought it would. I don't own Soul Eater or any of its perspective ideas. I may write a second chapter if there is interest.


	2. Unexpected Emotions

"Who would have thought that Stein of all people would be the one to tell Marie that he loves her? And be the first one to even SAY it between the two! Now that took balls!" Spirit looked like he would collapse laughing, and it was infectious. Azusa giggled a little before straightening back up and pushing her glasses up on her nose.

"She loves him too, Spirit." Azusa said matter-of-factly. "Who knows, maybe Marie will get that wedding that she's been dreaming of for so long."

"Marry Stein?"Spirit couldn't stop laughing long enough to breath, and drew looks from some of the orderlies who were passing through the halls.

"Well, as you should know, that's what two people who love each other tend to do, Spirit." Azusa glanced over at him and blushed slightly as she realized how close he was standing to her. _'He does have a beautiful body._' She blinked._ 'Wow, Azusa, letting your emotions run away with you after that touching scene with Marie and Stein finally saying those three words? You'll be as bad as Marie if you don't get ahold of yourself!' _An image of herself swooning after men ran through her head and Azusa couldn't suppress the laugh.

Spirit, of course, took it the wrong way and immediately changed the subject, his voice a little tense as he thought of Maka and Kami. "Well, we told Stein we'd go for food and drinks, so we better get on with it!" He draped his arm across her shoulders, dragging the other death scythe along with him.

He was surprised when she didn't pull away.

* * *

Stein kept his eyes closed, memorizing the feel of Marie lying against him. Unfamiliar emotions swirled in his mind, but he kept himself from twisting the screw, partly afraid of waking Marie and partly afraid of losing them.

'_How did I go without this?' _He wondered to himself, the warmth on his side so soothing, so… right. _'It's a shame that when she wakes from the m__edication and comes to her senses this won't happen again.' _He sighed and resigned himself to enjoying it while it lasted.

He kept his eyes closed when he heard the door quietly open and shut, Azusa and Spirit speaking in hushed tones to avoid waking them, it seemed. Try as he might, even as quiet as they were being, he couldn't ignore them completely so he just simply sighed.

"Look at how cute they are, Azusa." Spirit laughed quietly. "Guess this will stop some of the rumors about Stein!"

'_And what rumors __have you started, Senpai?'_ Stein wondered silently.

"Oh shut up, Spirit." Azusa said, hushing him. "We should just leave the food and come back when they are awake again."

"Whatever you say, Committee." Spirit laughed.

Before they could start moving to leave, someone knocked on the door, and then pushed it open with their butt before either could answer. One of the hospital's orderlies came through attached to the rear end, much to Spirit's joy. She just shook her head when she saw Stein and Marie in the same bed.

"Excuse me, sir?" She said, looking down at Spirit.

Spirit looked up from her chest just as Azusa kicked him, hard, in the leg. "Erm, yeah?" He said.

"I'm not allowed to let them sleep in the same bed. Too much of a risk of the wrong medication being administered, tubes tangling, that sort of thing. Too much of a liability, honestly. But, if you'll help me we could push the beds closer together if that would make them more comfortable."

Spirit looked over at the two and was surprised to find Stein staring at him.

"Senpai, please help her." It was almost a whisper, Stein's arm tightening imperceptibly against Marie.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Spirit shrugged, standing up and moving to help the orderly.

It was a simple matter to get the bed moved over, a little more difficult to move Marie without waking her or dislodging her IV. In the end, Marie did wake up once, but just long enough to grab for Stein with an almost desperate look in her eye before curling her arms around his right arm and falling back to sleep, a small smile on her face.

"Thank you," Stein said simply. "How long are we going to have to remain here?"

The orderly looked at him. "I'm not sure, but if you'll give me a minute, I can go and find the doctor and have him come in when he has time."

"Do." Stein said tiredly.

"Alright, will do." The orderly smiled. "Will one of the two of you be feeding him, or do I need to?" She asked, looking at Azusa and Spirit.

"Feeding me?" Stein asked suddenly. "I can feed myself."

The orderly blinked and looked down, still smiling. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stein, but at this point you're not supposed to be moving around much. Even her straining your arm like that isn't good for the wound you took in your side. You'll have to be fed either intravenously or by someone else for the next few days."

Spirit chuckled. "I'll feed him."

At least he had the decency to wait until the orderly left the room before cracking up.

"**MR.** Stein!"

* * *

Stein had eaten a little before succumbing to the exhaustion that had already claimed Marie, his face turned towards her as he slept, and Azusa and Spirit took that time to slip out.

"Well, Spirit, at least it seems like they're doing a lot better now."

Spirit turned to face Azusa. "I'm going to say something I'm probably never going to say again, and do something I have the same feeling I'll never do again."

"What?" Azusa said, stepping back as Spirit put his hands on either side of her head against the wall.

"Thank you, Azusa. From the bottom of my heart." He stepped towards her and in one movement, wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek. "I know Marie is your friend and that you don't like Stein, but you went after both of them, not just Marie. Thank you." He whispered quietly. "You're not as bad as I remember."

Azusa froze in his arms, wondering if this is what Stein felt like when he was faced with a rush of emotions he couldn't understand. And she crumpled, crying like a baby into Spirit's chest.

"We almost lost them, Spirit. We almost lost them."

"But we didn't, Azusa, we didn't." He held her until she stopped crying.

"Visiting hours are over now, Azusa. Do you need a ride home?" Spirit asked once she had stopped crying. "It's too far to walk, especially in the dark."

Azusa straightened her glasses and shook her head. "I'll just stay here."

"And sleep where? One of the chairs in the visitor's lounge? No, either I'll take you home or you can stay at my place. We won't be any help if we're as exhausted as they are."

"I don't want to go too far away, in case something happens." Azusa stated.

"Then you can stay at my place, it's a good twenty minutes closer." Spirit said.

"Well… alright." Azusa said, wondering if this was a good idea, then blushed when she realized that she didn't care.

* * *

The next morning found Dr. Franken Stein sitting up in bed, the previous day's wires and drips removed, in his normal clothing. An orderly was speaking quite incessantly to him, but he was completely ignoring the poor man.

He grinned sadistically as Spirit and Azusa entered the room. "Would you be kind enough to explain to this gentleman that I am a DOCTOR and that I have the right to check myself out whenever I wish?"

Spirit looked at Azusa and back at Stein.

"Why? Would you really be willing to leave Marie here by herself, Stein? And don't think that you'll be able to get care of her transferred to your charge, either. There will be no checking the pair of you out." Spirit shook his head. "You both need bed rest, and time to recover."

"Spirit, the best place for us to have bed rest is at home. In our own beds."

"She's still on an IV drip, Stein. She's weak, and you're still too weak to have to carry her yourself. Get over it; you're stuck here until your actual doctor releases you."

"He's right, Franken. We need to rest and what better place than here? It's quiet, and the food and company aren't that bad."

Stein looked at Marie. "Fine."

Spirit blinked. '_Three sentences? Seriously? That's all it took for him to cave to her? That poor orderly has probably been trying for over an hour!'_

Azusa walked over to Marie, tears forming in her eyes. Wrapping her arms tightly around the blonde death scythe she hugged her. "You're a bad influence, Marie." She whispered. "Making me all emotional over you and that horrible Stein."

"I heard that."

"You were supposed to."

Spirit laughed.

They spent the next two hours talking, trying to keep Marie and Stein company. The doctor came in right before Azusa and Spirit left with some good news.

"We'll be taking Marie off the IV tonight, and if both of you are feeling up to it, you can go home tomorrow evening."

Azusa smiled widely.

"Then we'll have a party tomorrow!" She declared, taking all three of them by surprise.

"Are you alright, Committee?" Stein and Spirit asked at almost the same time.

"No, but my best friend and her new boyfriend are." Azusa's grin rivaled even Stein's most sadistic one as she left. Spirit and Stein both glanced at Marie to see her red as a tomato.

* * *

"Marie?" Stein asked quietly as Spirit followed Azusa out the door.

"Y-yes?" She practically gulped.

"Your new _**boyfriend**_?" He asked questioningly.

"They overheard us… Azusa thinks it's funny." Marie blushed deepened. "I'm sorry, Stein."

He reached out and took her hand, the emotions that he was so unfamiliar to running through his head. "Don't be. I don't care what they think. I don't care to be your 'new boyfriend'."

Marie turned to face him, tears streaming from her eye. "Stein… I love you."

"And I love you, Marie." He repeated quietly. _'__Love,' _he thought to himself, '_is an emotion that will take some getting used to.'_

* * *

**A/N:**** One, I don't own Soul Eater. Two: The scene at Spirit's house between him and Azusa will be fleshed out in a one-shot that I plan on putting together later. Three: Yay for them going home! I honestly was dried up on a hospital scene. Four: Review if you'd like, I'll keep up with this since it seems that it's interesting to some Thanks!**


	3. Not So Secret Secrets

Their homecoming was noisy, raucous, and full of people. Most of the school seemed to have shown up to let them know how exceptionally happy they were to see them again.

Azusa and Spirit played the parts of a gracious host and hostess, making sure to keep everyone away from the door that led to Stein's personal laboratory. Spirit and Azusa also spent most of the night in each other's company; and while most may have missed it, Stein didn't, filing the fact away for later.

The only two people that were absent were Justin Law and Joe Buttataki, one on a mission and one claiming he had too much work to do that required his utmost attention.

Sid and Nygus spent most of the party together, in a corner watching it go by. Azusa refused to speak to Sid more than the required hello when he arrived.

The students made it interesting though. Black*Star nearly got everyone killed though when he attempted to "Surpass God and make the Professor and Ms. Marie feel better immediately!" and managed to spark a small fire that signified the end of the party.

Marie and Stein spent nearly the entire party sitting down on the small couch, chatting with the people who came up to them, both of them still too physically exhausted to do much more. Marie didn't manage to stay awake for the duration of the party and Stein, exhausted though he was, picked her up and excused them both, inviting the party-goers to stay as long as necessary.

He nearly fell trying to get Marie up the stairs and may have had Spirit not caught him and took Marie.

"Thank you, Spirit, and thank Azusa too. I am sure that Marie greatly enjoyed this." He said as Spirit laid Marie on her bed.

"Didn't you enjoy it at all, Stein?"

"It was a curious experiment, Senpai, but I am happy to close the book on it now. Would you mind making sure everyone else leaves before you go? I don't believe I'll be able to make it back down the stairs to remain awake." Stein asked, his tone tired.

"Of course, Stein." Spirit said, clapping the man carefully on the back.

"Thank you, Spirit." Stein said as he walked into his room.

* * *

Stein jerked awake suddenly, his right arm numb, pressure on his right side and chest, unable to move. He became aware of the deep breathing right below his chin a split second later. Soul Menace flared to life in his hands as he pulled his body back, ready to strike whatever had had him pinned. Before he struck though, he recognized the wavelength beside him, and looked down at the sleeping form illuminated by his Soul Menace.

"Marie?" He whispered, as she thumped back onto the bed where he had moved. His bed. In his home. She was in his bed.

Marie mumbled something that Stein couldn't make out, nuzzling into his side, obviously not one to be woke up easily.

He reached out to touch her shoulder, and shook her gently. "Marie," he tried again, "why don't you go back to bed?"

She curled her knees up, a contented sigh escaping her lips. "I am in bed…" She slurred. "Why aren't you?"

"Because you're in my bed, Marie." Stein sighed, trying to explain to the barely awake woman.

"Go to bed, Stein, leave me alone. I'm in bed already." She murmured.

Stein shook his head, standing up and carefully moving out of his bed before turning to watch her. She reached out as if searching for him, and grabbed the pillow he had been using, wrapping her arms around it and tucking it under her chin, all without opening her eyes, a smile on her face.

'_How about that?'_ He thought to himself. _'First you're her "new boyfriend" and now she's already kicking you out of your own bed.'_ He walked over and pulled the blankets up over her, then left the room.

* * *

Marie opened her eyes the next morning and was confused immediately. This wasn't her room. Looking around, she noticed that she was, thankfully, alone, and still clothed. Quietly she left, hoping that Stein hadn't come to bed last night, and crept down the stairs.

She was shocked. Stein lay on the couch, a small pillow and blanket covering him, still asleep. _'Of course he's asleep!' _She thought with a blush. _'It couldn't have been comfortable sleeping on the couch since I was in his bed!'_

Slipping through the room she went into the kitchen and started to make some tea. _'No, silly, that's coffee you're making!'_ She sighed, rummaging through the fridge to find something to make for breakfast. Eventually she settled on eggs, toast and bacon.

Stein opened his eyes to the smell of burnt toast. Reaching up he felt the twinge that told him he had pulled a muscle sometime during his stay on the couch, but he ignored it and turned the screw in his head backwards. Twice.

"Marie." He stated, walking into the kitchen, and she froze.

"Yes, Stein?"

"Did you have a nightmare last night?" He asked.

She didn't turn to face him, her face already burning red. "No."

"Did something frighten you?"

"No."

"Were you in pain?" He asked.

"No."

"Then why did you wind up in my bed?" He asked, smirking.

"I must have sleep walked or got turned around after going to the bathroom or something. You know how bad my sense of direction is." She said smoothly, the blush creeping all the way down to her chest and the top of her back.

She was completely unprepared for him to wrap his arms around her and whisper in her ear, "Just ask next time."

Walking away he called out, "You've burnt the toast." She then heard the stairs creak and the water for the shower turn on.

'_Was that really what he said?'_ She wondered.

* * *

Stein smiled as he showered, feeling more like himself than he had in days, albeit a good deal weaker than he usually felt. He also enjoyed knowing that he had planted a seed in Marie that he could experiment with later, his scientific mind wondering how the scans of her brain would look at that moment.

He wasn't expecting the knock on the door.

"Yes?" He called out over the sound of the water.

The door opened and Marie stepped in, eyes averted even though there was a shower curtain separating them.

"Stein… I'm sorry." She said so quietly he almost missed it.

"You think that the best time to apologize to me is when I'm standing, naked, in the shower?" He asked, a sadistic grin growing on his face that she couldn't see. _'That seed took a much shorter time to germinate than I had thought that it would!'_

Marie blushed. "I had to tell you. It couldn't wait." She looked up and he could see a tear in her eye.

To his surprise she walked over to the shower, pulled the curtain back, and with her eyes closed tightly, fully clothed, stepped inside. Wrapping her arms around his neck she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

She then stepped out of the shower, walked out, and closed the door.

Stein stood there for a moment, remembering the feel of her pressed against his chest, and felt a new sensation further south. Sighing, he remembered Spirit speaking of this particular occurrence quite often, and proceeded to ignore it, finishing his shower.

'_That was certainly an interesting reaction to that experiment.' _He thought to himself before getting clothed and coming down for breakfast.

He found breakfast sitting on the table, complete with orange juice he hadn't even known they had. A note beside his plate read,

**'_Stein, _**

**_I'll be back sometime later. Before dark. I'm going to see Azusa; I should be able to make the walk. There's enough food in the fridge for lunch later if you get hungry._**

**_Marie x'_**

Stein looked down at his food, then at the note. _'I have to call Spirit,' _he thought_, 'so he can bring Marie back here before she collapses somewhere on the way to Azusa's.'_

Picking up the phone he dialed Spirit's number, and relayed that Marie had left with the intention of going to Azusa's.

"That's too far of a walk, Stein, plus knowing Marie she'll probably get lost." Spirit said simply.

"I know that, Senpai. I'm not exactly able to go and get her, though. That's why I called you." Stein said, almost irritably. Spirit was as annoying on the phone as he was in person.

"Alright, Stein, I'll get her."

"Thank you, Senpai."

* * *

Marie walked about two blocks from Stein's lab before the weariness hit her. Sighing, she started to turn back, then remembered her actions in the shower, blushed and kept walking. Within five minutes she was hopelessly lost, exhausted and ready to give up and die on the side of the road.

After passing two coffee shops (the same one), a series of apartment buildings and numerous individuals going about their daily routines Marie simply had to sit down. She was so exhausted she couldn't think straight, and by this point she didn't have a clue how to even get back to Stein's lab.

Sighing, she sat on a bus bench, and asked the person beside her what time it was. The voice that replied was familiar. Far too familiar to be a coincidence.

"Spirit!" She exclaimed. "I'm so happy to see you. It seems that I got lost trying to get to Azusa's." She blushed slightly.

"I know, Marie. Stein called and asked if we'd come and get you, he was worried that you'd get lost and collapse if no one did."

"I feel like I could!" She laughed.

"Come on, Marie. Azusa is waiting in the car." Spirit smiled.

"Azusa is in your car?" Marie sounded confused.

"Yeah, we were going to come over and see how you two were doing when Stein called us."

"That makes sense." Marie said, smiling.

Once they got to the car, Azusa stepped out of the front seat where she had been sitting and slid into the back beside Marie. "To the lab, please, Spirit."

Spirit screwed his face into a comical expression as he nodded and said, "Yes ma'am!" and they drove off.

Azusa turned to Marie and whispered in her ear, "What was so important that you had to risk your health walking to my home?"

Marie leaned in. "You see, I had to talk to you about Stein… I… well… I wound up in his bed last night."

Azusa pulled back and hissed, "You what?"

Marie immediately shot a glance at the seemingly oblivious Spirit. "Not like that. Apparently I did it while I was asleep or something. And no, before you even think it, Stein didn't move me. He was asleep on the couch when I woke up."

"Check yourself for scars!" Called a laughing Spirit from the front.

Marie blushed scarlet.

"I'll talk to you more once we get somewhere private, Azusa." Marie promised.

* * *

Stein was relieved when Marie came back home. _'Yet another bothersome emotion. What has happened to me?'_ Stein wondered.

"We're going to my room, Stein. You boys play nice."

Spirit paled. "I do NOT want to play with Stein!" He wailed.

"Come now, Senpai. We can play doctor. You can be the patient and I will be the Operating Physician." Stein grinned at Spirit's obvious discomfort.

"Behave, Spirit." Came Azusa's voice from the stairs.

"Yeah, tell me to behave. I'm not the one that dissects things for a living…" He muttered under his breath.

* * *

"Alright, Marie. Spill it. You were in Stein's bed?" Azusa sat on Marie's bed, for all the world looking like a school girl waiting on the latest gossip.

Marie blushed. "That's not even the worst part, Azusa."

"He touched you?" Azusa guessed.

"No! Stein would never do that."

The two men slowly, silently climbed the stairs, looking at each other before moving right in front of Marie's door. They arrived in time to hear Marie say,

"I… followed him into the bathroom while he was showering, Azusa. Then I got into the shower and kissed him!"

Spirit practically fell to the floor in disbelief, staring up at Stein who just shrugged.

Azusa had almost the same reaction. Before she could say anything though, Marie added; "I was fully clothed, of course."

"But he wasn't!" Azusa exclaimed. Marie blushed.

"I kept my eyes closed the entire time."

"Now tell me you weren't curious, Marie." Azusa giggled.

"Well, who wouldn't be?" Marie said, giggling.

Spirit tugged on Stein's sleeve. "That's our queue to leave, Stein." He whispered quietly.

Stein, while reluctant to leave nodded and tiptoed down the steps with Spirit.

"Do women tell other women everything?" Stein asked once they were safely back downstairs.

"You better believe it."

"Then tell me, Senpai, what is Azusa going to tell Marie about you?" Stein's sadistic grin froze Spirit's blood.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Stein."

"I'm sure you don't." And the scientist chuckled.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading the latest installment in Heart Shaped Stitches. The next post I do will be for SpiritxAzusa, so make sure to check out In a time of need if you're interested in that development. I don't own Soul Eater or any of these characters.**


	4. Cupcakes, Dolls, and Other Women

"Well, Marie, you have already told you loved him. The kiss shouldn't be that much of a surprise; most people kiss first then get to the "I love you!" stage." Azusa laughed.

"It's just that it's Stein. You know how he is with emotions. I really wish I had kept my eyes open so I could have seen the look on his face though!" Marie curled her legs up underneath herself on the bed. "You just don't understand how he is. I know that people say he doesn't have emotions, but it's really that he's never had to experience them before."

"And he is the one that said "I love you" first." Azusa reminded her, cleaning the lens of her glasses on her shirt.

"He's only said it that one time, but Azusa; if I never hear it again I will never forget how it felt." Marie fell back onto the bed, her hands over her heart. "Maybe I'll wear a white dress with gold embroidery."

"Don't get ahead of yourself! He's not the first one to say "I love you" to you Marie." Azusa said, laughing.

Marie's face crumpled.

"He is." She whispered and burst into tears.

"What? What about Joe? Or any of the others?" Azusa asked, confused. "I thought they were in love with you?"

Marie sniffled. "They said they were, but they never said that they loved me. It's different." She blushed, looking up at Azusa. "But it's different with Stein. He didn't say that he was in love with me. He said "I love you." Short and simple. And he needs me, Azusa. He needs me. And… I need him."

"I'm happy for you, Marie." Azusa said simply. "Maybe you will finally get that wedding you've been dreaming of, you finally have a boyfriend!"

"And what about you, Azusa? Any luck yet? Or are you still 'too busy'?" Marie teased, her eyes widening a little when she saw Azusa blush.

"Tell me!" She squealed, grabbing Azusa's hand. "I know that look! There is someone!"

Azusa quickly pushed her glasses up her nose. "I don't know what you're talking about, Marie."

Marie just grinned. "You know, I have been living with Stein for a while, and I have started picking up some of his habits. Torture, for example."

"What, Marie?" Azusa had time to "Eep!" as the blonde death scythe glomped her, then proceeded to tickle her.

"No!" She called out, giggling as Marie kept tickling.

"Tell me or I'll never stop!"

"Fine, fine!" Azusa's voice squeaked. "I yield!"

Marie sat back, fixing her hair. Patient.

"It's… its Spirit, Marie." Azusa blushed, turning her head to the side.

"What?" Marie was shocked. _'Spirit? Azusa has fallen for Spirit? What?'_

"He's not that bad, he's really sweet when he takes the time to think."

"You KNOW what he did to Kami!" Marie exclaimed. "He's just recently getting through the divorce!"

"I know, I know… I just… I don't know, Marie."

"Well, what caused this turn of events then, Azusa? And tell me all the details." Marie planted her elbow on her chin and leaned towards Azusa.

"Well, I've spent the last two nights at his apartment. The first night I was still so worried I woke him up crying, and he came in to see what was wrong…" Azusa trailed off, her blush deepening.

"And?" Marie prompted.

"Well, it ended with him holding me and singing me to sleep." Azusa turned her head.

"Seriously?" Marie asked.

"Yeah… and last night I apparently fell asleep in the car so he just took me to his place rather than wake me up… then this morning he gave me a hug. It was just a hug! But it felt so right, like I had found that piece that was missing, Marie. I think I'm crazier than Stein right now."

Marie started at her friend. "Azusa, you're in love!" She cried out, both women collapsing on the bed, laughing.

* * *

"What are they talking about up there?" Stein asked.

"They're women, Stein. They're talking about cupcakes, dolls, work, other women, oh and most importantly, us." Spirit took a deep drag on his cigarette, holding the pack out to Stein. "They're catty creatures, that's for sure, and most don't even realize it."

Stein accepted the cigarette gratefully. "Since when did you start smoking my brand, Spirit?"

"Since they were out of mine when I bought these. Figured if they were horrible, I could just give them to you."

Stein smirked. "Thanks." Stein felt the madness push down on him, noting the clean lines of Spirit's neck, his mind whirling around in circles at the notion of cutting it apart to see the muscle and tissue that it hid. He reached up quickly to turn the screw in his head as Spirit handed his already lit cigarette to Stein so he could light his with it.

"So, Spirit. What is Marie going to learn from Azusa? I'd hate to have to get it second hand from her." Stein smirked. "You two aren't exactly subtle, you know."

"What are you talking about Stein? Your screw wound too tight?" Spirit looked at Stein from the corner of his eye.

"You know what I'm talking about, Spirit. You two were inseparable last night. Even when you were helping me take Marie to bed, Azusa was watching you like she was afraid you'd disappear."

Spirit blinked and turned to face him. "Really?"

"Really." Stein smirked.

"It's nothing, Stein. There's nothing for Marie to hear about."

"Senpai."

"Stein, it really is nothing."

"Senpai." Stein's voice was calm.

"Stein, really."

"Senpai."

"For crying out loud, Stein!" Spirit bowed his head. "I sang her to sleep when she was sobbing over the two of you. Then I gave her a hug this morning."

Stein's laugh was creepier even than the insane laugh Spirit feared so much. "Nothing, Senpai? Emotionally stunted as I am, even I know that that is something!" Stein couldn't stop laughing.

"I know that, Stein. I just don't know what to do."

"Well, don't look to me for advice. I'm still trying to understand Marie."

"At least she's not the Committee!" Both men laughed.

* * *

"And what are you boys so happy about?" Came Azusa's voice from the steps as she and Marie came down.

"Oh nothing, Spirit just agreed to an experiment and I was enjoying the moment." Stein said nonchalantly.

"Wait, what?" Spirit stammered.

"Oh, yes." Stein grinned.

"Well, it'll have to wait. I have some obligations that I have to get to, and Spirit is my ride." Azusa said, adjusting her glasses.

Spirit looked relieved beyond words, though he nearly dropped his keys as he pulled them out of his pocket.

* * *

As they left, Stein heard Marie move closer to him. He didn't move when she slipped her hand into his, watching them as they left.

"Azusa loves Spirit." Marie said quietly as they watched them drive off.

"Yes, and it appears that Spirit is fighting that emotion as well."

"Really?" Marie looked up at him. "He told you that?"

"Not in so many words, but yes." Stein looked thoughtful. "After all the time he has spent pining over the loss of Kami, I'm surprised that he's allowing himself to fall in love like this. It seems to be rather deep though."

"Yeah, she said he was becoming pretty protective of her. That he even sang her to sleep. That's so romantic." Marie sighed.

'_So, singing to someone is considered to be romantic.'_ Stein filed that thought away. He let his grip tighten around Marie's hand a little.

"Marie, I'm sorry."

She looked at him in surprise. "For what?"

"Earlier. I was attempting to goad a reaction from you, and while it worked, it drove you to leave our home in a weakened state and that could have been a very unwise move. You could have become injured." The glint of light on his glasses hid eyes. "I don't know how I would be able to handle you becoming injured because of something I had done, again."

"I wasn't injured earlier because of you, Stein." Marie said, moving closer to him. "I was injured because we were outmatched. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. You saved my life, Franken. Without you, I'd be in a box in the ground right now." Her voice trailed to a whisper.

Something snapped inside Stein. Another rush of emotions threatened his sanity, and he was rendered speechless trying to process of all them.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Franken." She stood up on her tiptoes again, and quickly pressed her lips against his, igniting another wave of unfamiliar emotions in the scientist. "If anyone has anything to apologize for, it's me."

She stepped back, blushing, looking down. "And I've kissed you twice now without even asking. I'm sorry."

"Marie." She looked up as he moved towards her, his hand moving to cup her chin, tilting her head up so he could meet her lips with his. He had watched Spirit do this enough, it shouldn't be difficult.

Observing someone else kissing could never prepare him for the flood of emotions that overwhelmed his senses when he kissed Marie.

"That's one." He whispered in her ear as he broke the kiss.

"One?" She asked, breathlessly.

He didn't answer, just pulled her close and kissed her again, happy to have her.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I enjoyed it, even it was mainly building the story line a little more, and it should start to move faster in the next few chapters.  
Soul Eater isn't mine, yada yada. Thanks for the reviews and encouragement to keep going!**


	5. Forgiveness

Marie stood still, afraid to move, not wanting to have this moment end. She had dreamed of this. She had wanted this for years, and had given up on it every happening, content to be just near him. She wanted to cry, she wanted to laugh. There were a dozen scenarios running through her head, but she ignored them all and focused on what was happening.

Stein was kissing her. Not her stealing a kiss, but him holding her in his arms, his hand in the small of the back, kissing her. Marie had never felt so happy.

She almost whimpered when he pulled away from her, his hands still interlaced across her back. "We're even now, Marie." He said quietly.

"Even?" She blinked up at him.

"Yes, you kissed me twice without asking, and now I've kissed you twice without asking. We're even." Stein released his hold on her, turning to walk back into his lab, concealing the smirk he wore on his face.

Marie stood there for a second, before calling out to Stein. "We're not even."

"Oh?" He asked, turning back around to face her.

"I still owe you an apology for winding up in your bed last night. And walking in on you in the shower." She said, blushing.

"Then apologize, Marie." Stein sighed, quickly becoming tired of her repeating it and was ready to be done with it.

She walked over to him, then pulled him into the lab and closed the door. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled his face down to meet hers, kissing him slowly.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Stein." She said as she broke the kiss and walked up to her room. Stein didn't get to see the blush that crept all the way down to her collarbone.

'_There is that sensation again.'_ Stein thought irritably. _'It occurs whenever she is in close contact with me. I should really ask Spirit about how to avoid it.'_

* * *

"Avoid it?" Spirit asked, the look on his face a completely confused one. "It's perfectly natural, Stein, why would you want to avoid it? It just means that you really, really like Marie." Spirit's voice cracked at the strain of not laughing at the end.

"It's distracting, Spirit. I can't get any work done if she's been in close contact with me until the feeling disappears. Also, it takes too long for it to disappear, hence why I want to make sure that I can avoid it." Stein said, seriously.

Spirit looked around Chupa Cabra's, sighing. "Stein, do you see all these women around us? They spend their entire day hoping that a man gets the same feeling for them that you're getting for Marie. Nothing comes from it beyond them getting better tips, but it's what they want more than anything. You feel for Marie something that these women hope for on a daily basis, do you think it's right to deny her that?"

"I hope that you're not suggesting what I think you, Spirit."

"You love her, Stein. And she loves you, what's wrong with that?" Spirit said, grinning.

"We've barely even kissed." The admission from the scientist shocked Spirit.

"You mean, you've never…"

"No, Senpai, we haven't. So, tell me now how to avoid that feeling." Stein said, toying with something in his pocket.

"There isn't a way, Stein. It happens to all men. Some of them later than others." Spirit laughed.

"I'll be going now, Senpai. Good night." Stein rose and left, Spirit still laughing.

'_I can't believe that he thinks getting a boner is something to be avoided!'_

* * *

Stein walked back to his lab slowly, trying to piece together everything that he was feeling. _'Damn you, Spirit. I don't know why I take your word for everything. There must be a scientific way to avoid that sensation that doesn't include having to avoid Marie at every turn.' _ Stein lit up a cigarette; taking a deep drag on it.

'_Marie certainly has stirred up quite a few emotions in me recently. I must remember to conduct an MRI and CAT scan sometime soon to see how it has affected my brain activity.'_ Stein continued walking on home, lost in his own thoughts.

He didn't sense the soul wavelength that was following him until it was too late.

The blow to the back of his head staggered him, the second one felled him. He looked up in disbelief as the third one fell, and was staring up at a masked assailant's blade before it was intercepted by a black blade.

Spirit stood in front of him, one arm transformed into a scythe, blocking the down swing of the blade.

"Made a new friend I see, Stein." He grunted, pushing the blade back up and away.

"So it seems, Spirit." Stein held one hand out and twisted the screw in his head with the other.

In a flash of blue light, Spirit transformed into his scythe form and Stein did a few spins with him, landing in a ready stance.

"Who are you?" Stein asked.

* * *

"Stein, it's me!" Marie's voice screamed out.

Stein blinked, looking around, feeling the heft of the …. stick? in his hands. He looked down at Marie, lying on the ground in front of him, a red welt showing on her left cheek.

"Marie…" The stick fell from his hands, landing on the sidewalk with a clatter. He was standing right outside his lab. Marie was in front of him, tears in her eyes. Spirit was nowhere in sight.

"Marie, I'm sorry. I… Marie, I didn't know. I'm sorry." Stein took a deep breath, extending his hand.

She took it hesitantly, tears in her visible eye. "What happened Stein? What caused that?" She asked as she stood, and Stein could see the tension in her soul, the way she trembled, and more of those unfamiliar emotions trickled through, worry and pain for having been the cause of it.

"I was talking with Spirit, and then I left. I walked home, Marie. I thought I was being attacked and that Spirit came to my rescue. I then attempted to attack my assailant, which is when I heard your scream." He looked down at the hand he still held. "I am sorry, I never wanted to hurt you. What did I do?"

"Stein… you left Chupa Cabra's over 4 hours ago. It's only a 30 minute walk… Spirit called to ask if you had made it in when he left an hour ago; he's been looking all over the city for you." She pulled her hand away to rub at her cheek. "I was checking to see if I could see you when I saw you grab that stick and start swinging it like there was an enemy nearby. You… struck me when I came too close."

Stein took a step towards her. "Marie, I… I wasn't myself. I would never hurt you."

Marie just turned away from him, and he could see her shoulders shaking. "I know, Stein. It's late now. Let's go on and go to bed. We're supposed to return to school tomorrow."

"Marie…" He watched as she walked into the lab, her soul shaking.

* * *

Stein lay in bed for over an hour and could not sleep. His actions from earlier were weighing on him, and he found that he simply could not sort out the emotions that they were causing him.

'_I've hurt Marie, again.' _He thought simply. _'I don't understand why she stays with me. She nearly died a couple weeks ago, and I could have killed her tonight… Perhaps while she is sleeping I could take a scan of her bra-'_

His thoughts were cut off by a long, drawn out scream coming from just a room over. He was out of bed and into her room in a matter of seconds, only to find her sitting up in bed, the blankets thrown aside. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and she was crying.

"Marie?" He asked gently, touching her shoulder. He drew his hand back as she flinched away from his touch. She looked up at him, and he could see it in her soul. Fear.

Stein didn't understand why he did what he did, maybe it was some fact that he had filed away for future reference, but he wrapped his arms around Marie's quivering body and started humming. He didn't know the words, but as he watched Marie's soul grew calm and she relaxed against him, her breathing slowing until she was asleep. He glanced at the clock. 4:37am. Gently lowering Marie back into her bed, he retrieved the phone he kept in his lab and dialed Sid.

"Sid, I know that Marie and I are supposed to be returning to teach today, but I don't believe that either one of us are going to be in any shape to."

"Don't worry, Stein. I'll take care of it. That's just the kind of man I was."

"Thanks, Sid."

Sitting the phone beside the clock, Stein climbed into bed behind Marie, wrapping his arms around her, unfamiliar emotions swirling in his head.

* * *

Marie woke up to the sound of gentle breathing behind her and the feel of arms wrapped around her waist, legs tangled in hers. Turning her head slightly she saw Stein laying against her, his arms wrapped around her almost protectively, completely clothed and still fast asleep. She also saw the clock that now read 1:15pm.

"Stein!" She rolled over to face him.

The silver haired scientist opened his eyes.

"We've missed our classes!"

"Relax, Marie. I called Sid, he's taking care of them for today. I didn't think that either one of us would be up to teaching after last night." He reached out and gently touched the welt on her face. "Marie… I'm sorry."

"I'm a death scythe, Stein. It'll take more than a small whack with a stick to keep me down." She smiled.

'_There's no fear in her soul now.'_ Stein thought to himself. _'Her smile is so warm. She seems to have forgiven me completely. I wonder…'_

Stein tentatively tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her towards him, kissing her slowly, his eyes open and watching for any adverse reaction from her.

There was none. Marie kissed him back and he felt warmth flow into him.

He needed that warmth. He needed her love. Even without the screw, it suddenly clicked. He wanted her love, and he wanted her to want his. And that was all that mattered.

Smiling she broke the kiss and whispered in his ear, "Now we are even, you're the one who wound up in my bed."

* * *

**A/N: I love SteinxMarie. I can only hope that I am doing them justice. Thank you all for the reviews.**

**I don't own Soul Eater /sadface.**


	6. Experimentation

Marie snuggled her head against Stein's shoulder, the terrors of the previous night completely gone. She laid there, happy and content, slowly drifting back to sleep. Stein, however, couldn't return to sleep. His body was exhausted, yes, but his mind was far too active for him to succumb to sleep.

'_She's forgiven me.'_ He thought to himself. _'Love. It's such an interesting emotion.'_

He laid there for another thirty minutes before bodily urges forced him to leave her embrace. Stein carefully moved his arm from under her head, lowering it gently onto the pillow. He heard her sigh, and saw only peace and stillness in her soul.

'_All the fear, the pain from last night is gone.'_ He marveled. _'She's so resilient. Hope, I believe is what it would be.'_ Washing his hands, he walked to his computer, and sat down. He twisted the screw in his head, letting it turn over three times before commencing on notes he had left unfinished almost two weeks ago.

Time passed quickly, and Stein missed the sounds of Marie getting up, only becoming aware of her presence when a hand placed a plate of food in front of him.

"Marie?" He asked looking up.

"I've been awake for two hours, Stein. I cleaned up, started some laundry and cooked breakfast. Though, it's really dinner. I guess it's a good thing that we've both been so exhausted, we'll need to actually sleep tonight so we can return to teaching tomorrow."

"Sid's covering for the rest of the week, Marie. It was only an extra day, and he agreed." Stein looked down at the meal. The smell coming from it made his stomach rumble.

Marie pouted. "I miss my students, Stein. And I'm starting to go stir crazy staying here cooped up in the lab. I'm bored here."

"You could always help with some of my experiments if you're that bored." Stein said, fighting the grin that was trying to spread across his face.

"I'd like to keep all my internal organs, thank you." She said, giggling.

Stein spun the chair to face her. This put him at eye level with her chest and he felt that annoying sensation again. Looking up, he kept his face completely neutral as he said, "Your skin is simply amazing. I believe that I would like to perform an experiment right now, Marie, and seeing as it isn't an internal organ, I don't believe that you would object, correct?"

Marie took a step back from him, surprised. "You're not removing anything of mine, Stein." Her visible eye's pupil slightly dilated. He noted with surprise that her breathing was a bit faster and that her soul was beginning to quiver.

'_A joke. I try to make a joke and she becomes afraid of me.' _Stein stood up, pushing the chair back against the desk. _'Perhaps another approach; one more worthy of Spirit, though I hate to have to use something that I've seen him do.'_

"Marie, you trust me to never harm you, yes?"

She looked up into his face and said without hesitation. "I do, Stein."

"Then you will allow me to perform my experiment, yes?" The smile tugged at the sides of his mouth.

"You've never asked me to allow you to experiment on me before, Stein." He could sense the hesitation, the nervousness; just as well as he could see her soul starting to quiver in fear.

"Marie, I promise you that this will not harm you in anyway."

"Stein… I…"

He interrupted her. "Marie, I love you."

"… alright then, Stein."

'_Three words. That's all it takes for her to agree with me over anything.'_ He thought to himself. "Marie, please follow me."

To her surprise, Stein didn't take her to the lab, but rather up to his bedroom.

"I have a hypothesis about Soul Resonance that I wish to test, Marie. Will you resonate with me?"

She just nodded, taking deep breaths to calm herself. _'I'm in his room!' _She thought nervously. _'What could he be wanting to experiment on that he can't do in the lab?'_

Stein felt her soul reach out to his, and smiled at the familiar stitching lingering on the bottom of it. "Marie, please lay down."

"Stein?" Her tone was low, nervous. He could sense her soul quivering, but he couldn't tell if it was anticipation or fear.

'_Damn emotions.' _He thought bitterly. "I'm not going to hurt you, Marie. It's simply part of the experiment." He smiled reassuringly at her.

Taking one last deep breath she laid back on the bed, then turned on to her stomach when he prompted her to.

"Now, for the experiment to be a success I want you to keep resonating with me. I would also appreciate it if you would tell me how it feels."

Reaching out slowly he rubbed her back, feeling the tension in both her soul and her body disappearing under his touch. He had studied medicine, and his touch was gentle but firm. He could feel the resonance changing, much as it would when two partners were dancing, but this was… different.

And there was that damn sensation again. Stein sighed under his breath, '_When is that going to stop happening?' _He was careful, mentally willing it to disappear, but each time he would touch one of the clusters of nerves in Marie's back she would let out a small moan and the sensation would reappear.

"Marie, can you feel the difference in our Soul Resonance?" He asked.

"It feels more relaxed, like we're not having to try as hard." She said, turning her head as much as she could to face him.

Standing, Stein asked, "Do you believe that you would be comfortable if this were done from the front? I would like some data for that as well."

Marie blushed beet red, and said, "I… I don't really think that that is appropriate, Stein."

He could feel the embarrassment running through her soul. "Marie, I don't understand. You have nothing to be embarrassed about; I would simply like to continue my experiment."

She turned to face him, and looked down at his pants.

"Stein… you…" She couldn't finish the thought.

"I can't seem to avoid the sensation when you're in close contact with me. Or apparently, vice versa." He said, no expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Marie. Even Spirit couldn't tell me how to avoid it."

"It's definitely inappropriate for us to continue this experiment." Marie squeaked out.

"Marie, I am sorry."

"It's nothing to apologize for, Stein." She seemed to want to giggle.

Stein broke the resonance between their souls, then turned to leave. Marie's voice followed him. "Stein… wait…"

He turned to walk back into the room, and she met him halfway. "I love you, too." She whispered in his ear as she stood up to kiss him.

Standing awkwardly in front of him she had never looked so cute. "I could… help you take care of your problem when you get them."

"Marie?"

She had never blushed so furiously in her life. "I've never offered that to anyone, Stein. But… it's you… "

Wrapping his arms around her he gave her a hug and whispered, "You'll have to be the one to teach me everything, you know that."

She smiled. "I'd love to be Professor Marie for a day."

* * *

The food sat forgotten on his desk, the sheets in disarray. Stein cranked the screw in his head backwards multiple times, unable to process all the emotions and sensations that he had just experienced. Marie lay beside him, fast asleep, her breathing indicative of deep slumber.

'_That was certainly an experiment that I feel I should conduct again.' _He thought, smirking. He moved slightly, letting Marie rest back onto the bed and making sure that she was asleep before he redressed and left the room.

Walking outside he lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag as he tried to work out what he had done, what she had done, and the meaning behind all of it.

He wasn't prepared for the wave of nausea he felt as madness rolled over him, but he managed to shrug this onslaught off. Taking a deep breath, he extinguished the cigarette and walked back into the lab. He picked up the cold food and walked into the living room, eating in silence. He flipped idly through the channels on the small tv he owned, wondering how people could spend entire days watching it when there were so many more interesting things on before finally leaving it on a channel that was, thankfully, showing some sort of surgery.

He drifted off to sleep sitting there, only to jerk awake a few minutes later when the tv cut off and he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Stein, come to bed. I would appreciate it you'd allow me to sleep with you tonight, too." Marie said, quietly.

"Of course, Marie. Like I said, all you had to do was ask." He smiled, feeling her warmth flow over him.

* * *

**A/N: I hope that I kept that teen enough, I'm not sure if that would require a lime warning or not, but I was very careful to avoid lemoning any of my readers. Thanks again, for all the reviews, private messages and general words of encouragement. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, as well. I'll make the next one longer to apologize for it. **

**Also, I don't own Soul Eater.**


	7. Surprises

Stein woke the next morning feeling better than he had in over two weeks. There was hardly a twinge of the pain he had been feeling, and he felt well rested. _'That was quite probably the best night of sleep I've gotten in a long time.' _He thought to himself, keeping his eyes tightly closed.

He could feel Marie snuggled against him. He could sense her soul's wavelength, and remembered how bare it had been last night. The experiment with Soul Resonance had gone much better than he had imagined, though he doubted that he would be able to get other meister and weapon pairs to accept the means of it.

But he didn't care, which surprised him. What he cared about was the woman sleeping peacefully beside him, the woman who trusted him completely, even though she shouldn't. She was the woman that loved him, and she was the woman that he never wanted to lose.

'_I know what this means.'_ Stein chuckled to himself. _'Spirit's going to tell me that I need to propose to her.'_

The thought made him tighten his arm against her and she snuggled closer. _'I will marry her._' He thought with sudden determination. _'And then she will be mine and mine alone. I'll never have to worry about losing her to anyone else again.'_

Bending towards her slightly, he placed a small kiss on her forehead and whispered, "I love you, Marie Stein." The name seemed to suit her, he decided, a smile on his face.

* * *

Marie woke slowly, but she was aware enough that she heard Stein say, "I love you, Marie Stein." It was all that she could do to keep herself from showing that she was awake, and she was more than worried that he was watching her soul. Fortunately, it seems that he wasn't.

She closed her eyes and thought back to the previous night. Stein's "You'll have to teach me everything." had been a lie. His knowledge of the human body had made it to where she had to tell him very, very little of what he should do. Death, but he knew right where to touch her. She fought an urge and instead opened her eyes, one hand running up to twiddle with the screw in his head, running her fingers over its cold metal, but not turning it.

Her touch apparently woke him from his doze. He glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye, a smirk forming on his lips. Reaching over to the nightstand he pulled a cigarette out of the pack and lit it, still lying in bed. His grin widened at Marie's shocked expression.

"You still don't smoke, I assume?" The answer was obvious, and Marie could tell that she was indeed being teased.

"Of course I don't, and you shouldn't smoke in bed either!" She said accusingly.

"The sheets are all flame retardant. I'm not a fool, after all. I prefer the fires that I start myself."

"Of course they are." She said laughing. Stretching she got out of bed, and then blushed completely as she realized that neither of them were currently wearing clothing.

"Now I KNOW that we were both dressed when we came to bed…" She trailed off.

"Oh, yes, we were. But you seemed to be having a dream of some sort and removed all of yours, then proceeded to remove mine. It was highly entertaining, so I allowed you to." Stein said, smirking.

'_That dream… I can't believe I was doing that while asleep.' _She thought with a sour feeling.

Stein stood up quickly and handed her her robe which was draped over the desk in the room before gathering his own clothing and going to the restroom.

She couldn't help but watch him leave.

* * *

"Stein?" Marie called out after they had eaten breakfast.

"In here, Marie." His voice echoed out of the lab area.

Marie walked in to find a half dozen wires attached to Stein's head and he was looking at a read out on a screen.

"Wha… what are you doing, Stein?" She asked, more than a little worried.

"I'm taking readings of my brain activity after certain stimuli are applied. For example, this is a read out after I view a picture of a person that has been dissected. This one here is after I have viewed a picture of a small, fluffy animal." He looked up. "And this one is after I had viewed a picture of you."

The machine let out a beep, and a new readout scan started printing.

"What's that doing, Stein?"

"The machine is noting that there has been a significant increase in my brain activity. It's printing a scan so that I can compare it to the others. It appears that you were the cause, Marie."

"I was the cause?" She asked, curious and walked over to the computer screen. None of it made any sense to her; it was just a bunch of numbers. The only thing that she could make any sense of was the picture of the brain that was colored differently in each of the different printouts.

"It would seem so. Apparently your presence causes brain activity in the nucleus accumbens of my brain to increase." He looked up at her. "That would be the portion of the brain that is considered to be associated with the feeling of love and pleasure."

"That's good though, right?" She asked.

"I believe so, Marie." He smiled. "It would seem that I am legitimately in love with you."

She laughed. "And I love you too, Stein. I came in to tell you that I am going to go and spend some time with Azusa today. She's going to have Spirit drop her off before he goes to meet Maka. Apparently Maka offered to spend the day with him today. He seems ecstatic."

"Just be careful, Marie." Stein said quietly. "You're still going to be weak, so don't push yourself."

"I won't, Stein, don't be silly!" She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and the machine started beeping again.

"More activity?" She asked.

"So it would seem." Marie laughed as he replied, then left the lab. Stein turned back to his research, typing his notes furiously, trying to ignore a certain sensation yet again.

* * *

Azusa knew something was up when Marie got into the car with her and Spirit. Marie could tell something was different between Azusa and Spirit as well. Each woman gave the other a conspiratorial grin and rode in silence until Spirit dropped them off at Azusa's.

Marie couldn't stifle her giggle when she climbed out of the car and looked over her shoulder to see Spirit give Azusa a short goodbye kiss.

"I knew something was up!" She declared when Azusa caught up to her and unlocked the front door. "Spill!"

Azusa adjusted her glasses. "There's not much to tell, Marie. Spirit and I have started dating."

"I bet Maka didn't take that very well."

"Better than you would think after things were explained to her. Kami leaving Spirit seemed to really hurt her, but she seems to be coping quite well now. It was even her idea for the two of them to have a day together, though I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't also to keep me and her father apart."

Marie followed Azusa into the house, sitting her purse down on the coffee table. "Do you have something to drink, Azusa? Some coffee maybe?"

"Do you mean tea or coffee?" Azusa laughed.

"Tea." Marie blushed.

After the tea was finished Azusa asked, "So, Marie. You know that Spirit and I are dating, what about you and Stein? Have you two made it official yet?"

"Well… not in so many words… but…" Marie blushed deeply.

Azusa raised an eyebrow.

"Well…" Marie started. "Let's just say that he's a very fast learner." She hid her face behind her tea cup.

Azusa nearly spit hers out. "You didn't!"

"We did." Marie smiled. "Azusa, it was better than I had ever imagined. He was so gentle, too, even though I've heard that most guys can't control themselves on the first time."

Azusa carefully set her cup down, then stood and took Marie's cup from her. "So, will there be any little Stein's running around anytime soon?"

"No!" Marie said emphatically. "We were quite careful!"

Azusa just laughed.

* * *

Stein sat in his lab, going over the details of his test results again and again. They all pointed to the same, inarguable conclusion. He was completely and totally in love with Marie Mjolnir. Sighing, he pushed the chair away from his computer and walked into the kitchen.

Even here he could sense the lingering remains of her soul's wavelength. His entire home seemed to be full of it. _'I'm changing.'_ He thought suddenly. _'Not even a month ago constantly sensing her presence would have been enough to anger me because of its interruption. Now all it does is impress the fact that she is gone, even if it is for just a small time.'_

He walked back into the small living room and picked up his phone, dialing Spirit's number. It rung a few times before hitting an answering machine, and Stein remembered that Marie had told him that Spirit was going out with Maka for some father-daughter time today.

Shrugging on his lab coat, Stein walked out of his lab and home, heading towards the more retail section of Death City, intent on surprising Marie when she came home from Azusa's.

* * *

'_Of all the people to run in to today.'_ Stein sighed, waving back to Spirit and Maka.

"What brings you out today, Stein? Bored staying alone in the lab without Marie?" Spirit chided.

"I was coming out after a few things I needed to pick up."

Spirit's eyes fell on the single bag that Stein was carrying.

"That's an awful small bag to be so important as to drive you from the lab today, Stein." He said.

'_Don't ask, Spirit. Don't ask. I don't feel like making a convincing lie up.' _Stein thought tiredly.

"So, what is it, Stein?"

"Papa! Come look at this!" Maka's voice called out and Spirit turned away for just a second. When he looked back at Stein, the silver haired meister was gone.

'_Thank Death Maka was there to distract him.'_ Stein thought from the alleyway he had ducked into. He looked down into the bag and the small box it contained, an idea starting to form.

* * *

Marie came home that evening to find Stein cooking. In fact, he had made quite a lot of food. She looked down at the small roast Stein had cooked while she was gone, and it truly did look delicious. So did the asparagus and mashed cauliflower puree. He had even baked a small chocolate cake.

"You can cook?" She asked quietly.

"I live alone, Marie, and even I can get tired of ramen. I thought that you would enjoy not having to come home and cook for the two of us, and I was tired of reading my brain scans."

He pulled out a small bottle of wine as well, and then led her up the stairs and into one of the small storage rooms he hardly ever used. Stein had cleaned it from top to bottom, apparently moving everything from this room into the other. In the center of the room was a candle lit table.

"Stein? This is a little bit more than just making dinner."

He turned to her and smiled, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her. "I wanted to do something special."

"Why, Stein?"

"Because, Marie Mjolnir, I love you." He dropped down on one knee and pulled out a small box, opening it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. "Would you marry me?"

Marie's eye welled up with tears, her soul reaching out and resonating with his.

"Stein…"

* * *

**A/N: Looks like you'll have to wait until the next post for her answer ;) Love you all, thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	8. Madness Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Marie stood in front of Stein, completely shocked. _'Did he just ask me to marry him! Stein just asked me to marry him!' _He knelt in front of her, expectantly. There was a romantic dinner sat up just behind him. _'Answer him!'_ Marie screamed at herself before she felt her collapse.

Stein barely managed to catch the death scythe when she fainted. He couldn't help but chuckle, carefully picking her up and carrying her first towards her room, then down to his lab, where he gently laid her on a table and placed a series of wires on her head, taking scans of her brain, knowing he had at most a few minutes before she woke up.

Marie opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling in Stein's lab, more than a little confused, but wire free.

"Stein?"

"Welcome back, Marie. You seemed to have fainted on me." Stein's voice came from the computer sitting about ten feet away.

Marie thought hard about why she would have fainted, and it took a few seconds for it to come back to her. "You asked me to marry you!" She exclaimed.

"I did, Marie. Yet, you never answered me." He said, smirking.

She carefully stood from the table and walked over to him. "I have an answer, Stein."

"And what is that?" He asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Yes." She smiled and bent down to kiss him.

Stein's vision clouded, and he felt a wave of weakness course over him. Standing suddenly he knocked the chair he was sitting in backwards and Marie nearly fell. He grabbed his head in his hands, pulling on his hair.

"Ma… Marie, go..." He managed to stammer out.

"Stein, no." He felt warmth flow through him as Marie's hands touched his chest. It was helping, but this was the worst attack he'd had yet, and he could feel the madness beating out Marie's touch.

Grabbing her shoulders he pushed her out of the lab, quickly locking the door behind her.

Marie heard a maniacal laugh echo through the lab a second later. She pounded on the door, not wanting to destroy it, but the high pitched laugh terrified her. Rushing off quickly she called Spirit, and then resumed shouting for Stein through the door.

* * *

Stein sat up against the door, laughing so hard he couldn't stop shaking. It was all just so funny. Here he sat, a scientist, yet he couldn't even understand what she was doing to his heart.

'_My heart.' _He thought with a sudden moment of clarity. _'I can examine the heart to see! It will just take a small incision to get to the ribs, and then a splitter to open them so I can see properly. Some localized anesthesia will do the trick, I believe."_

"STEIN!" The voice cut through his thoughts, and he realized that it was repeating that word over and over again along with banging on the door.

He ignored it. He had a dissection to perform. A chuckle escaped from his lips, and he bit down hard on them, drawing blood, which he also ignored.

He removed his lab coat and then his shirt; using a permanent marker to draw the lines on his chest for the incisions, and giggled madly when he realized that they were a heart above his heart.

"It'll match…" He said in a sing song voice to himself.

"STEIN!" More screaming and pounding.

Match what? It seemed important.

More pounding, more screaming, and a new voice was shouting that strange word now.

What would it match? It was important, he was sure.

Then, he no longer cared. All that mattered was the dissection, the experiment. The voice didn't matter. The pounding on the door didn't matter. Just the science of dissection. He made the first incision, transfixed by the sparkling red against his pale skin, just as the door burst open.

He brought the scalpel down to make the second incision just as the voice yelled that word again, "STEIN!", and something heavy crashed into him, sending the scalpel flying from his grasp. He could hear crying.

And he could hear the sing song voice demanding dissection, every nerve on fire for the want of it. It was necessary. It couldn't be ignored. He looked up and saw what he had been trying to remember. The match to the marks on his chest.

He wanted to dissect it.

But the other one was in his way, hanging onto his arms, pushing him against the wall. Who was this one? Why would it interfere with his work? It didn't matter.

"Soul Purge!" Stein shouted, discharging his wavelength with both hands into the first one. _'Spirit.'_ Stein paused, looking confused for a second at the first one.

The second was all that Marie needed. She launched herself at Stein, both arms glowing. She caught him in a massive hug around his waist, her healing wavelength hitting him directly, and the scientist crumpled.

* * *

"Stein?"

The voice was soft, gentle, an indefinite distance away.

He wanted to hear it again, he was afraid the darkness would swallow it up.

Time stretched out here; it could have been seconds or years later. "Stein!"

Closer now. A name sparked with recognition.

"Marie?" It was barely a whisper.

"Stein!"

It seemed as if he could reach out and touch it now, but there was darkness all around him, and he was afraid.

And then there was a soft golden glow that seemed to wrap itself around him. It drove away the darkness, calmed the noise in his head. He was left looking up at an angel.

"Marie."

She held out her hand, smiling down at him. He noted that both her eyes were visible, and that they were beautiful.

"Let's go home, Stein."

He took it.

* * *

Stein opened his eyes to find his head cradled against Marie's chest. His chest, however, seemed to be on fire. There was pain like he hadn't felt in quite a while. One glance down told him the story. Apparently whatever anesthetic he had used had worn off.

"Marie?" He asked quietly. "Did I hurt you? Or anyone?"

She looked across the room where Spirit was standing propped up against the wall. Spirit's forehead was cut, it looked as if his nose may be broken and from the staggering of his breaths Stein assumed that he had at least a couple broken ribs.

He tried to sit up and managed to collapse back against Marie. "Marie, I need you to prop me up and then bring me the small clear bottle sitting on the corner of my desk. I also need you to bring me the box labeled "Post Op". And please hurry, so I can get started on Spirit as well."

He looked up at her as she laid him against the operating table. She was crying. _'I'm only going to get worse.' _He thought bitterly, _'Until the kishin is taken care of.'_

She returned quickly with what he had asked for, and he first injected himself with the anesthetic, and then cleaned the area thoroughly, wincing slightly at the pain even through the anesthetic. Taking a deep breath he pushed the needle through the skin and carefully began sewing the wound closed. He heard a strangled gasp as he did, and watched as Marie left the room.

"Senpai, I'm sorry." He said once he had his wound sewn up and was helping Spirit on to a table. "I'm going to take an X-ray to see if I did break any of your ribs, I assume I used Soul Purge on you." Spirit just nodded.

"After the X-ray, I'll stitch the cut on your eye back up and reset your nose. Is there any other pain I should know of? Arms, legs? Anything internal?"

"I think that's about it, Stein." Spirit grunted as Stein helped him reposition for the X-Ray.

Once the X-Ray was complete Stein set Spirit's nose, and then started to stitch the place above his eye.

"I proposed today, Spirit." Stein said quietly.

"You what?" The only thing that kept Spirit from jerking upright was the needle and thread going in and out of his skin directly above his eye.

"I asked Marie to marry me." There was a hint of sadness in his tone.

"She said no?" Spirit guessed.

"She actually said yes, Senpai, which was followed immediately by the incident you and I are recovering from."

Neither of the men had noticed Marie step back into the lab, her arms wrapped around herself, looking at the two of them.

"Then why sound so sad, Stein?" Spirit asked, wincing as the last stitch was pulled through.

"Seven, Senpai. That's the number of stitches I just set." He responded.

"That doesn't answer the question, Stein." Spirit sat up, wincing at the pain in his ribs.

"Your ribs are broken, Senpai. Well, three of them are. I can wrap them with a bandage if you'd like, unfortunately, there is nothing more that I can do for them other than to prescribe you some pain medicine."

"Stein! Listen to me. If she said that she was willing to marry you, why did you sound so sad?"

Stein turned to face him. "Would you be happy to know that the woman you love, the woman that you want to marry has to fear for her life because you can't keep ahold of yourself? Would you be happy to know that even if you marry her, each day you're going to be getting worse and worse until you're not even sure you'll know her from the experiment sitting in the next room?" Stein's voice was animated, even if his face showed none of the emotions. "Would you be happy to know that you can't protect her from yourself?"

Spirit blinked and found that for once he didn't have a smart aleck come back.

"I'm still happy, Stein." Marie said.

Both men turned to face her.

"Marie?" Stein said taking a step towards her.

"You've made me happier than you know, Stein. I wouldn't give it up for anything; even if that means that I have to watch you every day of our life. I'll be more than happy to." She smiled at him, and Stein could feel the warmth from where he stood.

Spirit coughed slightly and Marie blushed.

"Thank you for coming to help her, Senpai." Stein said. "I assume you'll want to spend the night? It's quite late and you're more than welcome."

Spirit paled visibly. "Um, no, I really should be getting home."

"To Azusa? " Marie teased.

Spirit blushed, amazingly. "Well… yes. I'm sure she'll be worried." Spirit thought to himself, _'Not to mention I don't want Stein's curiosity getting the better of him while I'm asleep here, again.'_

"That's so sweet, Spirit." Marie said, moving over to Stein and leaning her head against his arm.

Spirit grabbed his clothing and slipped his shirt on gingerly. "Look, I'll check in on you two tomorrow. Call me if you need anything. Anything. Good night." He said, pulling his keys out of his pants pocket and leaving.

* * *

"Marie, I understand if you want to change your answer." Stein said quietly, lying in bed with her after they had eaten.

Marie traced the lines of the new scar on his chest, careful not to touch it. "What could you have been thinking, Stein?"

He reached up to grab her hand, holding it tightly. "I'm sure it was nothing to do with you, Marie. Please, don't blame yourself for this."

"I'm supposed to be helping you beat the madness, Stein! How can I do that if you push me away from you! You are injured right now because I let you push me away." She was crying openly, her head cushioned against his arm.

Stein tightened his arm around her, pulling her close, tilting her head up to look at him. "Marie, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't let me push you away. I would take any injury for you. I've nearly lost you once, I won't again."

"Yes." She said, her crying fading.

"Yes?" He repeated, looking down at her.

"My answer is still yes, Stein."

Stein just pulled her closer. "I love you, Marie."

"I love you, Stein."

* * *

The next morning Stein woke up alone. He sat up sharply, and then collapsed back onto the bed, his chest almost screaming in agony. He reached to the night stand to grab his glasses when his hand hit a bottle. Looking over at it, he read the name of the medication inside it.

'_She left a painkiller on the nightstand? And a glass of water to take it with. It even has a straw and some ice floating in it.'_ Stein allowed himself a small smile as he took two of the pills. _'She'll come back in soon, I'm sure.'_

Stein relaxed against the pillows, feeling the medicine kick in quickly, not fighting the sleep that came with it.

He awoke again a few hours later, and this time he wasn't alone. Marie set beside him, reading one of her romance novels.

"Marie?" He asked quietly.

"Stein!" She said smiling, "How are you feeling today?"

"Alright, though it appears that my chest is taking its time healing."

She reached out and lightly touched the shirt that was covering his chest. "It's been less than a day, Stein."

"I need to check the stitches for signs of infection, Marie. Do you want to leave the room?"

He watched her gulp. "I'll… I'll stay, Stein."

He moved her hand gently, and then raised the shirt up. The stitches were angry red, though they didn't appear to be infected. She held her breath.

"Stein… it's half a heart." She whispered.

"So it is, Marie." He said, looking down.

'_It almost matches.' _He fought the wave of nausea and smiled up at her as she bent down to kiss him.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews/PM's/Words of Encouragement. I'm sorry that this one ran a little longer than I have been posting, but I had a lot that I wanted to get done, even if I did cut some descriptions. I'm glad that it seems like everyone is enjoying this, I know I am enjoying writing it, and for some reason, I am quite proud of this chapter. And as always, I appreciate, love and get excited over each and every review! :)  
**

**Remember, Madness makes the heart grow fonder.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	9. Unforgettable

Stein had drifted back to sleep when Marie heard the phone ring. Answering it she heard Azusa's very worried voice asking for Stein. She reached out and touched his shoulder and Stein woke instantly, taking the phone and answering.

"Azusa, take him to the hospital." Stein held up a hand when she tried to ask about it.

"I'm the one that did that to him, Azusa. What if I'm cutting him open to fix whatever is wrong and the madness takes me? Do you want me wrist deep in his chest cavity with a sharp scalpel if I lose it again?" Stein punctuated his statement by hanging up the phone.

"Stein?"

He closed his eyes, sitting the phone on the bed beside him. "I can't, Marie. I can feel it pressing down on me even now. I can't risk hurting him again, or perhaps even killing him because I can't keep my head on straight. It's better if he goes to the hospital. I'll pay any bills he incurs."

"That's not the point and you know it!" She stood up, anger on her delicate features. "He's your best friend, Stein! You're abandoning him!"

"It's safer!" Stein's voice rose, and he opened his eyes. "Please try to understand. I don't want to be the cause of him suffering anymore."

There was pain in his eyes. "Marie, please."

Tears streamed down her face and she hung her head. "I'm sorry, Stein. I know you worry about him too."

He reached his hand out and took hers. "Thank you, Marie."

* * *

Marie sat beside Stein until he fell back asleep. Sighing, she sat down her book and tried to busy herself about the house. Eventually, she looked into Stein's darkened lab, and shook her head at the mess.

'_At least cleaning this up will give me something to focus my mind on. And Stein will appreciate not having such a glaring reminder of what happened.'_ She touched her chest. _'He's going to have to live with it for a long time anyway.'_

It took Marie a good two hours to get everything picked up and thrown away that had been damaged. She managed to get herself so turned around once that she was convinced she was lost, and may have been if not for the blinking EXIT sign above the door.

And she managed to cut herself on a broken beaker. It was deep, but she didn't want to bother Stein with it. She simply picked the glass out and wrapped her hand in some gauze left over from where Stein had cleaned himself and Spirit up. She cut herself about an hour into cleaning, and when she was finished it still hadn't stopped. It wasn't a lot of blood, and she was starting to feel dizzy, but she was finished so she started back up the stairs to check on Stein.

She fell.

Her world went hazy and she couldn't keep her balance. She grabbed out desperately for the hand rail, Stein's name coming to her lips. Her hands didn't want to grasp the rail, and she heard a sickening crack when she landed which included white hot pain in her right arm as her head slammed against the floor. Then she knew nothing.

* * *

Stein heard her fall. He heard her call for him, but he couldn't make his body move fast enough, the painkillers dulling his reflexes.

"Marie!" He yelled as he staggered to the door, his arm clutching his chest to fight the searing pain that was erupting from it.

"Marie!" He turned the corner and looked down the flight of stairs, and saw her crumpled at the bottom, blood pooling around her head and her right arm bent at an impossible angle. He also saw the gauze that had fallen from her right hand and the large slash across the palm.

"MARIE!" He nearly fell down the stairs himself, his own pain forgotten. Her chest wasn't moving. Marie's chest wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing. He was going to lose her.

"No. Death damnit, no!" He lowered his ear to her chest, and could hear her heart beating. Taking a deep breath he pushed his lips to hers and closed her nose before exhaling all of it into her. He repeated the process until he was rewarded by a gasp as Marie started breathing again.

She remained unconscious and the blood was getting worse. Staggering to his feet, Stein did the only thing he could. He stumbled into his lab and gathered everything he would need, including the one gurney he had.

The pain in his chest nearly made him pass out as he lifted Marie onto the stretcher. He staggered back into the lab, leaning heavily on the stretcher as he pushed before cleaning the area around the wound on her head.

'_Head wounds always look worse than they are. You're a doctor, you know that.' _He told himself bluntly. _'Her arm is broken, but the bone didn't break the skin. It's the secondary issue. Stop the blood loss, then check the wound on her hand. Then reset the broken bone before she wakes. Use anesthesia.'_

Stein checked off the things he would need mentally. He could feel the madness pressing down on him as he moved Marie's hair aside and found the source of all the blood.

'_A few stitches. Maybe 10. That's all it will need. It's just a large shallow gash.' _Carefully administering slightly more than the dose of anesthesia he would use on anyone else to make sure that she wouldn't feel a thing, he started stitching the wound closed.

'_They're not heart shaped.' _A singsong voice said in his head. _'They should be little hearts. She'd like that.' _

"Yes, she would." Stein said to himself smiling, and blinked. "No." Stein sat the tools down and took a step back from the unconscious death scythe.

It took Stein a couple long minutes to settle and banish the thought in his head. He quickly finished the stitches in her scalp before looking at the gash in her hand. Moving it towards him he caught a glint, and upon closer inspection discovered what was likely the cause of Marie's fall. He carefully removed the sliver of glass from her palm, and applied some coagulant to the wound.

'_She's lucky that she didn't cause that to move anymore.' _He thought in wonder as he stitched the wound up as well, _'Just a little in either direction and instead of nicking that she could have severed it.'_

The pain in his chest was overwhelming now, but he took a deep breath before starting to set Marie's arm, glancing at the X-Ray he had taken when he first brought her in. He did it as gently as he could, but he could see the sweat bead up on Marie's forehead even through the anesthesia. Once it was over he wrapped the arm and set it in a cast.

Leaning back in his chair, Stein let himself pass out, his chest ablaze with pain.

* * *

Marie opened her eyes slowly, her head pounding, her right arm agony from her shoulder to her fingertips. She was looking up at a stitched ceiling.

"Stein?" She hesitantly called out, and then tried to sit up. She didn't make it far, her head erupting in agony so intense that it brought tears to her eyes.

'_What happened to me?' _She squeezed her eyes shut, trying hard to not sob at the pain.

"Marie." She opened her eyes up, and Stein was standing over her, blood seeping through his shirt.

"Stein, you're bleeding."

"I don't care, Marie. Are you ok? Are you in pain?"

"Stein…"

"Please answer me, Marie." There was pain in his voice, barely hidden.

"I am… its bad, my head feels like it's going to explode and my arm feels like someone has poured lava on it."

"Let me give you a shot then." He turned to get it and she reached out and grabbed his lab coat's sleeve.

"Stein, what happened to me?"

"Marie, you fell down the stairs, I couldn't catch you." He turned away after answering and retrieved a hypodermic that he filled with some medication that she couldn't see the name of.

"This will help the pain, Marie." He said as he injected it carefully into her left arm.

"What happened to your chest, Stein?" She asked as he injected the medicine. "Why are you bleeding?"

His heart stopped.

"Marie, what day is it?"

"Why?"

"Marie, what day is it?"

"It's Thursday, Stein."

"Thursday what?"

"The 2nd. Why are you asking me these questions?"

"Marie… It's Sunday the 26th." He looked down at her, and she could see something in his eyes. Anguish?

"Stein?"

He just sat down on the floor beside the operating table and held his head in his hands. _'I don't want to lose her.'_

* * *

'_Marie Mjolnir, think! There's no way that you can just lose 22 days of your life because you hit your head!' _Marie let her left arm slide off the table to rest on Stein's shoulder.

"Stein… tell me what I've missed. Please. I believe you that I've missed 22 days, but I don't want to lose them. Please, tell me everything that has happened. The last thing I remember was preparing to leave for a fight against Arachnophobia."

"We were injured in that, Marie, pretty badly." The scientist didn't look up, the pain in voice all too obvious. "We both almost died. We spent nearly a week in the hospital. Do you remember anything about the hospital?"

Marie closed her eyes, trying to concentrate, when she felt Stein's soul reach out for hers. It was… different than she remembered. More… familiar? She let herself drift into his soul, their wavelengths reuniting, and received a flash of memory.

"_I love you, Marie."_

"_And I love you, Franken."_

She smiled. "I love you, Stein."

He turned his head to look up at her, and she felt his hand take hers. "I love you, Marie."

Marie lost track of how long they sat their resonating, her memories slowly returning to her. She fell asleep, wrapped in the warmth of their resonance, to the memory of him humming her a song. Both of them forgot their pains and aches, and Stein took the time to rebandage his chest.

* * *

Marie awoke later in Stein's bed, her casted arm supported slightly above her chest, Stein laying on his side beside her, his breathing deep and steady. Closing her eyes she let her healing wavelength flow into him, hoping that it would do something to help the fear and pain she had sensed during the resonance.

It must have woke him, because when she opened her eyes back up he was looking at her. "Marie, there's one thing I wanted to ask if you remembered…" He trailed off, and if he had been anyone else, she would have been expecting him to blush.

"I remember everything, Stein. My answer is still yes." He smiled, and moved his head up to kiss her. For the first time in quite a while, the mind of Dr. Franken Stein was at peace.

They slept the rest of the night cradled together. The next morning when the alarm went off, Stein turned it off quickly, then went to bathe, careful of the stitches in his chest. Coming out of the bathroom he met Marie halfway and grabbed her shoulders as she staggered.

"If you don't feel up to teaching it's understandable, Marie." He said gently. "I'm sure Sid will cover for us again."

"No, I want to go on back, Stein." She smiled up at him sweetly. "It will do us both some good. Do I need to bathe with the cast on?"

"Yes, don't shower, the water will weaken the cast."

"Alright." She smiled again, and he could feel the warmth of it flow through him.

'_I love her.'_

'_I love him.'_

* * *

**A/N: Ah, this one was fun to write. Sorry it feels like it's cutting off short, (to me at least). I hope you are all still enjoying this. Love you all!**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	10. A Way to Beat the Madness?

**A/N: I wanted to warn you, there's a Lime in here. I know most people won't mind, but for that one person who cares, there you go. And yes, it's just a Lime, no Lemon!**

* * *

'_Today is our first day back to teaching in almost a month!'_ Marie thought excitedly to herself, trying to tug on her clothing. Nothing seemed to want to fit over her cast though, and she couldn't put her own bra on.

'_How embarrassing!' _She closed her eyes tightly and tried again when she heard a low chuckle coming from behind her.

"Do you need some help, Marie? It seems that you may be having some issues with only be able to use your left hand." Stein was smirking, his cigarette dangerously close to collapsing under the weight of all the ash.

"I can do it, Franken." She said, embarrassed at him seeing even her naked back. _'Marie, you've slept with him. How could this be embarrassing?' _ She thought to herself.

She heard him chuckle again as she struggled, and finally she sighed. "You're right. I can't do it with one hand."

She almost gasped out loud at his closeness when he moved to snap the bra in the back for her, and then stepped away from her.

"Is there anything else that you need help with, Marie?" He asked quietly.

"Well… the sleeve on my shirt won't fit over the cast, either." She blushed.

"I'll fix that." He said with a smile and returned a second later with a pair of scissors. He carefully cut along the seam and opened the sleeve enough that it would fall open over the cast but not appear too loose. "I can stitch that back once the cast can come off."

"Thank you." She said smiling.

"Are you ready now, Marie?"

"I am!" She said excitedly.

* * *

Sid was standing in their classroom when they arrived, a few students already there, Maka and Ox both present.

"It's good to see you both back!" Sid said when he saw the two of them. "It's been a while."

Stein nodded and Marie greeted Sid with a hug. "Thanks a lot for covering for us Sid!"

"That's just the kind of man I was, Marie." He said, and then looked down at her arm and hand. "What happened?"

"I had a fight with the stairs and they won." She said, laughing. The two talked for a while longer before Sid excused himself.

"I'll be going on to my NOT class now, take care you two. Have fun with these." Sid said as he left.

The two teachers were soon swarmed by students asking how they were doing, with more than one of the students hugging Marie. Maka even gave Stein a hug, which surprised him. Soon enough, the bell was ringing to announce the beginning of the class.

"Alright class, we'll start with roll." Stein said.

"Um, Professor Stein?" A voice called out from the back of the class.

"Yes?" He said looking up.

"Well… um… I got volunteered… we just wanted…. to… um… say… welcome back. We're glad that you and Ms. Marie are doing well." The dark haired girl blushed.

"Thank you. Now, back to roll."

The class quieted down, and Stein completed his roll call, and had the class open up to a random page in their soul work book.

"I want you to copy this page." He said. "When you're finished you can join Ms. Marie and I outside for training."

The class looked confused. "You'll be turning that copied page into me." He said as he rolled out of the room, Marie following him.

"What are you doing, Franken?" He could hear the worry in her voice and in the use of his first name.

"It's simple, Marie. I don't know what the last thing they were taught was, and practical skills are always, well, practical for them. So I'm going to have them split into groups and spar today. I'll get Sid to tell me where they were later today."

She placed her hand on his shoulder as they walked and he could feel that warmth flooding through his soul. He looked up at her and smiled and she closed her eye and tilted her head to the side, smiling back.

"Marie, I do love you." He said so quietly she didn't hear him.

* * *

"YAHOO! I WASN'T THE LAST ONE DONE COPYING THAT STUPID PAGE!" Black*Star's voice overrode the matches that were currently going on, and Marie couldn't help but laugh as he handed her the page.

Stein looked around and noted the ones that hadn't arrived yet, just Kid and Patty. Even Liz had finished her copying. About five minutes after Black*Star came out; Patty did, holding a paper giraffe in a death grip.

"Um, Patty?" Marie asked as Patty started to walk past her.

"Yes, Ms. Marie?" The girl replied sweetly.

"Is that the paper you were supposed to copy for Professor Stein?"

"It is, but he's been a very bad giraffe so I have to punish him first!" Patty said her voice rising in volume as she held the paper giraffe up by its neck. "I shall destroy you, GIRAFFE!" She declared as she tore its head off. "There you go, Ms. Marie!"

Marie watched as Patty skipped off happily, joining Liz. _'That girl is almost as insane as Stein is on occasion.' _She thought smiling.

Class ended three hours later, with Kid never coming out of the classroom.

* * *

"Did you ever see Kid leave the class?" Marie asked on their way back home that night.

"Come to think of it, I didn't." Stein said. "I'm sure he's gone home though."

"What do you want for dinner, Stein?" Marie asked as she started her ritual of rummaging through the cupboards.

Stein's hand on her hips startled her and she whirled around just as Stein moved in to kiss her, pulling her close. "I know exactly what I want, Ms. Mjolnir." He said quietly, and every hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

Something was wrong.

"Stein?"

"I'm going to dissect you, Marie." He took a step closer to her, pushing her against the countertop. "I'm going to know everything there is to know about you by the end of tonight."

She looked up desperately into his face, but the light reflecting off his glasses made it impossible to see his eyes even as he brought his head down to kiss her again, his tongue snaking into her mouth. Marie tried to pull back, but only succeeded in pushing herself even further against the counter top. Reaching up she grabbed his glasses and pulled them off, and watched him smirk as she did so.

"Do you think that removing my glasses was a good start, Marie? Because I believe that that is only the beginning for tonight."

She shivered as she felt his lips land on the side of her neck, but it wasn't only caused by fear. "Come now Marie." He whispered in her ear. "Dissection isn't always painful."

She smiled despite herself as she realized her mistake. What she had misread as something wrong was only because she had never seen Stein like this before.

'_Playful.'_ She thought to herself. _'I never thought I'd see the day that Stein was playful!'_ She giggled as he pulled her up the stairs.

* * *

Marie lay on her left side, her right arm carefully perched on Stein's chest, avoiding the fresh line of stitches there. He was smoking a cigarette, but at this moment, she didn't care. She was still basking in the resonance between their souls, how everything seemed so perfect and peaceful at this moment.

Then she felt her stomach rumble. Not a little "I'm getting hungry" rumble but a full-fledged "Feed me I'm starving." rumble. It didn't help any that Stein also heard it and chuckled.

"It's your fault." She muttered as she climbed out of bed and looked around for her clothing.

"Are you complaining, Marie?" He asked. "You did say that you were willing to help me with my problem when it arose."

She couldn't help but laugh.

"Now what are we going to do about dinner, Stein? I really don't want to cook!" She finally found the last of her clothing and was tugging it on.

"We can go and get something if you don't want to cook, or we could order in."

"Places actually deliver here?"

"Well, most of them still do." He said, chuckling darkly.

"Franken!"

"I didn't dissect any of them. You have Spirit to thank for them not delivering. Too many stories and rumors spread while he was drunk." He laughed.

"Well, looks like we'll order from where ever will deliver then." She walked out of the room and went to grab the phone.

Stein stayed in bed, smirking to himself. _'That certainly is one way to fight the Madness.'_

Marie came back a few minutes later, smiling and humming. "I ordered us some subs! They're going to be a nice change from the normal!"

Stein smiled and stood up. "Then we have what, twenty or thirty minutes Marie?"

Marie looked up, surprised as he wrapped his arms around her again, kissing her deeply and taking her back to the bed.

* * *

The subs were late, so the pair had 45 minutes to themselves. By the end of it Stein felt that he had made quite the start of analyzing every bit of Marie, and she lay exhausted and nearly asleep on the bed. Stein lay beside her, running his fingers across her bare flesh, counting the goose bumps as they rose. He carefully cupped her right hand in his and brought the injured extremity to his mouth, kissing the healing stitches.

When the doorbell rang Stein made sure to pull on clothing before going to pay for the subs. The deliveryman nearly fainted at the sight of the screw sticking out of Stein's head, and Stein couldn't help but laugh at it. He left the man a nice tip and closed the door in his face.

Taking the food upstairs, he woke Marie and encouraged her to eat before she fell back to sleep. He sat awake a little longer, having realized something.

He didn't feel the madness pressing down on him for the first time in a very long time. He felt calm, normal.

He was happy.

* * *

**A/N: I totally ship SteinxMarie :) I hope you're having as much fun reading it as I am writing it. Sorry for the Lime, but hey, I didn't Lemon you so it's all good! Thanks for the reviews/etc.! And especially thanks to those of you who review regularly, you really encourage me to keep pushing the chapters out :) **

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	11. Test Subject

Stein took the remainder of the food downstairs and packed it away in the fridge. He wasn't tired in the slightest, and the exertions had left his chest twinging so he walked into his lab and started typing.

'_If Marie ever sees this, she'll kill me.' _He thought to himself, chuckling. Being typed out in precise detail was the information he had gathered from the previous two encounters, adding to the information from the first one.

Was it so bad that he wanted to know what she responded best to, or that that would involve a chart of how her soul was reacting in time with her body?

He continued typing his observations for approximately an hour, successfully ignoring the pain in his chest until it had dulled.

'_I never imagined that a single incision that I inflicted on myself would be so painful.' _He thought distractedly while typing. _'The others have not been this bothersome, even the one on my face. I'll have to make sure to check to make sure that it is all set properly in the morning before we leave for the DWMA."_

A slender arm draped over his shoulders before wrapping around his neck, which then tightened as its owner read was being written on the screen. Before he knew it Marie had his throat painfully constricted, her arm transformed into a hammer.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" She asked slowly, enunciating every single word, her question more an accusation.

His hand clawed briefly at her hammer transformed arm and she released him. He took a deep breath, rubbing his throat thoughtfully before answering.

"Simply research, Marie." He said, glancing over at the robe clad death scythe.

She spun his chair around to face her and placed her hand on the arm, staring straight in his eyes. She looked like she was going to say something, but then brought her left hand in sharp contact with the side of his face. It may have lacked the full force of her right hand, but it still stung and flung his face to the side.

'_At least it wasn't still a hammer…'_ He thought as he turned back to look at her again, a bright red hand print on the side of his face.

There was anger and betrayal in her eyes as she turned and walked away from him. Before leaving the room she stopped and he could see tears in her visible eye.

"Franken Stein, I am not your Test Subject." She closed the door with a slam.

* * *

Marie laid curled up on her bed, her heart thudding in her chest. _'He said he loved me. He asked me to marry him. Was it all some grand experiment to him?' _She thought miserably. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she reached up to remove the eye patch, not wanting to soak it. Trembling she reached up to touch her left eye, rubbing the lid slowly before opening it.

As always she was unprepared for the change in her vision. Opening her eye let her see the madness in everyone, and she could see the sparks of it even in her own reflection. It was quite… disturbing. Shaking her head she curled up around a teddy bear she had brought with her from Oceania, weeping into it to keep from being so loud.

She didn't hear the door open to her room, or feel Stein's presence as he walked in. He stood there watching her cry, trying to sort the rush of emotions that he felt.

"Marie?" He called out, moving over to the edge of the bed. He reached down and gently touched her shoulder. "Marie, you're not a test subject."

She looked up at him and it was then that he realized that she wasn't wearing her eye patch. Her left eye was a beautiful gold instead of the (equally beautiful) brown of her right eye. Stein's analytical mind kicked in as he stared at them.

'_Heterochromia. This is the first example I've seen in person!' _His hand reached out and gently touched her left cheek. "Your eyes are beautiful, Marie." He said, completely transfixed.

Marie didn't answer, just kept staring at Stein, shocked. Madness leapt around him, attacking him constantly, but at the center there was a small area of him that it didn't seem to touch. She reached out and touched his chest slowly, shuddering as her fingers felt the new stitches through his shirt.

"Marie?"

"You can't see it Stein. You can't see the madness swirling around everyone. You can feel it, but you can't see it!" Tears welled up fresh in her eyes. _"It's terrifying."_ She whispered.

He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close to him. "Marie... Marie, you don't have to be afraid. I'm here." He could feel her trembling in his arms, her tears soaking into his shirt.

"_It's never going to go away." _She whispered into his shirt.

"Neither am I, Marie." He promised the sobbing woman.

* * *

Marie awoke the next morning when the alarm went off, immediately aware of the air that was hitting her left eyelid. She bolted upright, grabbing wildly for the eye patch that she always wore, only breathing when it was safely back in place. It wasn't until after she had replaced the eye patch that she realized that Stein was gone.

The water for the shower wasn't running. She checked the kitchen and sitting room and didn't find him there either. Finally she checked his lab and found him asleep on his keyboard. Marie closed her eyes as memories of the last night flooded back; reminding her of how childish she had been acting over what he had done.

She walked over to him, and paused when she looked at the screen. There was a program running, and it was entitled "I love you, Marie." As she watched it was in the process of deleting something, and it took her a second to realize that it was the documents that she had caught him working on the night before.

Marie looked down at the still sleeping Stein. _'I wonder how long it took him to do all that.'_ With sudden determination she reached over his sleeping form with her left hand and clicked the cancel button, then confirmed when it asked for it.

'_I don't care if he wants to use me as a Test Subject if that's the experiment that will help him keep his sanity.'_ She realized suddenly. _'I love him, and I know that he loves me.'_

Stein woke to Marie's smiling face. "Marie?" He asked, more than a little groggy.

"I don't care if I am a Test Subject, Franken." She said and he could feel warmth flowing from her as she bent down to kiss him. "I'll be a Test Subject for the rest of my life if it means I get to stay with you."

He reached out and grabbed her hand. "Marie, you're not a Test Subject. If anyone is, I am. I apologize for taking notes without telling you, I just wanted to know everything that there is to know about you." The look in his eyes was nothing but sincere.

She smiled. "I'm going to go and get ready for school now, Franken."

He watched her go, and then looked at the computer to check its progress. _'She canceled the deletion?' _He thought in amazement.

* * *

The day at school dragged on and on, and Stein found himself more than anxious to get back to the lab so that he could continue his research from the night before.

'_Marie is amazing.' _He thought to himself. _'She is so sweet and kind and forgiving. She's gorgeous. How could anyone like her ever have had trouble finding a husband or even a boyfriend?'_

"Professor Stein?" Maka's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Yes, Maka?

"You said that we would work on Soul Resonance techniques today, Professor."

He looked up at the classroom and realized that the bell had rung for start of class about 7 minutes ago.

"So I did. Alright, I want meisters to pair with meisters and weapons to pair with weapons. I want you with someone that you have never resonated with before. This will be a simple test to see who among you is the most versatile. The person or people who have the most trouble resonating will remain after class for remedial lessons. "

The class groaned and more than one person shot Maka a dirty look.

It took nearly 10 minutes for the class to actually get paired off. Once it was done Stein leaned back and began to watch the souls of his students, seeing who was resonating with the least effort.

'_Of course Maka isn't having in trouble. Kid is having a considerable amount of difficulty; it seems that the person he got paired with wasn't completely symmetrical. Soul and Black*Star are having some issues with their new partners. Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty are doing quite well, although it looks like Patty's partner has ended up with a giraffe of some sort.' _Stein scanned the rest of the room, quite pleased with Ox, Harvar, Kim and Jackie's progress as well_._

"Class, Ms. Marie and I will be right back." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the hallway.

"Stein, what are you doing?" She asked.

"Marie, are you still going to marry me?" He asked quietly.

"What type of stupid question is that?" She asked.

He just smiled and kissed her.

"Stein, this really should wait!" She laughed.

"Yes, Stein. It should."

"Senpai!" Stein exclaimed turning to look at Spirit.

"You didn't come to visit me, Stein." Spirit chided.

"Senpai, I was afraid to." Spirit looked at Stein oddly. Had he just admitted… fear? "I told Azusa to take you because I was the one who had put you into that condition. Later the day that you went, Marie fell." Stein gestured to the cast on Marie's arm. "I didn't know what was going on much, honestly. I managed to get it casted, but neither of us were up to leaving the lab."

"It's alright, Stein." Spirit said tiredly. "Glad to see you back to teaching, though, I think Azusa would have something smart to say about the fact that your class is inside the classroom." He flashed a smile at the pair of them. "You two certainly have brought out a side of each other I never thought I'd see!"

Stein couldn't help but notice the way Spirit walked as he left. _'I'll have Marie invite the two of them over tonight so I can check his condition for myself.'_

He turned back to Marie, but she had already reentered the classroom.

* * *

Class finally ended and Stein sent Kid to the library for Sid to give some remedial lessons, and then discussed having Spirit and Azusa over with Marie.

"That's a wonderful idea! I'll call them when we get home!" Marie seemed ecstatic. "I wonder what we should make, or maybe we should just order in. Oh, and I'll have to go to the store! We don't have much coffee left, and I know that Azusa at least would love to have some after dinner."

"Marie, you mean tea." Stein said, smiling.

"Of course I do!" She smiled up at him and he could feel that warmth flowing from her again.

"I'll go with you, if they come at seven that only gives us a couple hours to get everything we might need, and you know that you might get lost on the way."

Marie called as soon as they got home, and Azusa said that they would love to come.

"You know, Stein, I think there's more than just a little liking going on between those two." Marie giggled, hooking her arm through Stein's. "She's been at his house every night for a week now!"

Stein led them down an aisle in the grocery store, pushing the cart slowly in front of him. "You may be right, Marie." He picked up several different teas, wondering which to get and just tossed all six of them into the cart.

"What else did we need to get, Marie?"

"Am I cooking or are we going to order?" She asked.

He thought back to the last time she had cooked a large, complicated meal. "We'll go ahead and order something. I think that a new restaurant opened not too long ago that serves Greek food, we could look at it." He said.

"That sounds great!"

* * *

Azusa and Spirit arrived a little after seven and the food got there about fifteen minutes later.

"Before anything else is said," Stein said simply, "I want to apologize for what happened. I should never have refused to help you, Senpai. It doesn't matter the reason. I contacted the hospital earlier and had the charges removed from your account, and you're also my patient as of 2pm this afternoon. They've faxed me the records and I'd like to do an X-ray to make sure everything is in its proper location still."

"That wasn't necessary, Stein." Spirit said, rubbing the back of his head, and Azusa kicked him under cover of the table.

"It was, Senpai."

"Well… thanks."

"This is amazing, Marie." Azusa said. "Where did you say that you got it from?"

"The Athens Greek restaurant that just opened. I love the gyros!" Marie smiled from across the table.

"They are quite good." Azusa agreed.

The meal continued in companionable chit chatting until they were all finished.

"I think we had better go now." Spirit said, standing unsteadily.

"Did you drink before you came over?" Marie asked quietly, Stein watching Spirit closely.

"I just lose my balance sometimes." Spirit said, shaking his head. "I haven't drank since the incident."

He took two steps away from the table and collapsed.

* * *

**A/N: I LOVE GYROS. So yes, they're having gyros. Also, I know I wanted to keep Heart Shaped Stitches and In a Time of Need separate, but that's not working to well, so I may end up combining both stories into this one. Leave me an opinion on that for all of you who are faithfully reading! Thanks and remember, more reviews means more chapters, quicker ;) Love you all!**

**I don't own Soul Eater or have any rights to Athens Greek Restaurant- but I have eaten there and it IS amazing!  
**


	12. A Spirit Popsicle

"Spirit!" Azusa's voice rose in a scream as he collapsed, her body completely frozen from the shock of him taking a step and tumbling. Marie stood with her hands clasped over her mouth, terror in her eye.

Stein moved faster than either Azusa or Marie could have ever expected, blocking Spirit's fall with his own body, the unconscious man's body weight driving both of them to the floor. They could both hear Stein saying quietly, almost pleadingly, "Senpai, Senpai open your eyes," even as the scientist placed his fingers against the death scythe's neck, feeling for a pulse.

"Marie." Stein looked up and repeated her name as he slowly stood, supporting Spirit's weight against his side.

She blinked and looked at him.

"Marie, take Azusa to the kitchen. We bought a lot of tea, try seeing which one she likes the best." He said calmly, bending over to flip Spirit against his back, then lifted him and walked to the lab, leaving the two women behind.

Once in the lab, Stein gently laid Spirit on one of the vacant operating tables, trying once again to coax him to awareness. "Senpai, open your eyes. You're worrying a lot of people right now, and that's not like you."

Stein waited a second, his analytical mind knowing that his mere voice wasn't going to reach Spirit.

'_This is far more than as simple a wound as a couple broken ribs would cause.' _Stein removed Spirit's suit jacket and shirt, gingerly touching the swollen area around the broken ribs. _'No, this is definitely something else. The blow to the head he took, perhaps? Maybe there's some swelling of the brain that is causing the difficulties walking and the black out. Yes, that is most likely the cause.'_

Stein looked up when he heard a sniffle from the doorway. "Marie, you should be with Azusa right now." He sighed as Azusa's darker haired head peeked out from behind Marie's shoulder. "Neither of you should be here right now. You don't want to see what I'm going to have to do."

The light glinted off his glasses as he spoke, obscuring his eyes. Both women could clearly see that there was no trace of sadism in his tone or his face, and Marie turned to Azusa, placing her hand on her shoulder and pulling her away from the lab.

Stein walked over to the door and locked it before turning back to Spirit. _'Difficulty walking. He was having some difficulty making conversation at dinner, and I heard Azusa mention to Marie that Spirit had had some issues sleeping last night. I know his breathing was erratic and then there is the unconsciousness to consider. It all points to swelling.' _Stein walked to a closet in the back of the lab and pulled out an oxygen tank and mask.

'_I don't want to perform a __ventriculostomy unless it is absolutely necessary. He would never forgive me if I drilled a hole in his head.' _Stein chuckled to himself. _'Oh, but the fun I could have with him if it became necessary.'_

Stein placed the oxygen mask over Spirit's mouth and nose, making sure that there were no leaks. He then walked over and turned the thermostat in the lab down, shivering slightly as he felt the cold air immediately begin to flow through it.

It didn't take long before the lab was almost freezing cold, and Stein was checking Spirit's temperature constantly. _'91.4 degrees. That's the sweet spot. At that temperature the swelling will begin to reduce and there will be no risk to Spirit's health.'_

Stein looked up, a thought blossoming. The room had to be cold for Spirit's body temperature to drop, but if he were to place him in one of the large tub sinks he could completely regulate the temperature of the surroundings to force Spirit's body temperature to maintain and hopefully bring the swelling down.

He filled the tub with water, checking the temperature until it sat at just below the magic number and then he carefully undressed and carried Spirit over to it and lowered him in. Spirit shivered as he was lowered into the cold water, a good sign.

Stein wet Spirit's hair, making sure it wasn't in his eyes. _'Why?'_ He wondered to himself as he did, and then set to monitoring Spirit's temperature, ignoring the fact that his own was dropping just as rapidly.

Stein blinked when he realized that his own vision was beginning to blur. Looking down he noticed that his fingertips had turned blue and he suppressed a chuckle. Marie would scold him for this. He stood and turned the heat back up in the lab, noting that Spirit had been in a state of mild hypothermia for almost 30 minutes now. As he was walking back he heard a chattering sound.

Spirit was awake now, sitting in a tub of cold water, naked. "St-Stein… w-w-why a-am I-I…. c-c-co-oold" He stuttered out through the oxygen mask.

"Senpai, you collapsed. It appears that there was some swelling caused by the blow to your head that you took. I had to choose between either drilling a hole in your skull or lowering your body temperature and administering oxygen to reduce the swelling. I believed that you would prefer the second option over having a hole in your skull."

"Y-y-you un-undres-sed me…" He trailed off.

"You wouldn't have wanted to have to try to wear my clothing, Senpai."

"N-no."

"Are you feeling any better?" Stein asked suddenly.

Spirit thought hard, past the fact that he was miserably cold and wet. The headache that had plagued him all day was gone, and his legs, even though he wasn't standing, didn't feel weak. "I- I th-think s-so." He chattered out.

"Then let's get you out of the tub and started warming up. If you have any problems- anything, Senpai, tell me. You should have come to me earlier when you realized that something was wrong." Stein said, helping Spirit to stand, handing him a towel.

"I-I di-didn't k-know." Spirit stammered, staring at his blue fingertips and toes.

"Dry off, Senpai. Can you stand on your own?" It was only then that Spirit realized that Stein was supporting him by holding his shoulder.

"Y-yeah." Stein removed his hand and Spirit swayed, but kept his feet.

Stein turned away and Spirit was thankful for the fragile privacy he had as he dried off. "St-stein?"

"Yes, Senpai?" Stein said without turning around.

"Wh-where's A-Azusa?" He struggled getting into his clothes.

"She's with Marie, waiting outside to see how you're doing. I was afraid that I would have to drill a hole in your skull, and I didn't want them to see that if I did."

"I-I'm glad y-you di-didn't." Spirit was starting to warm up a little now that he had his clothing back on. "St-stein?"

"Yes, Senpai?" Stein asked, turning to look at him.

"Th-thanks."

Stein just sat there for a second, as if searching for something to say. "It was nothing, Senpai. If you're feeling well enough, we should go and let the women see that you're in one piece."

* * *

Marie and Azusa weren't far. Between the two of them they had managed to move the loveseat from the living room against the wall right outside the lab and had sat down together. When Spirit and Stein came out of the lab, the two women had fallen asleep, their heads leaning against each other, obvious tear marks through their makeup.

"Just stay here tonight, Senpai." Stein said quietly, looking down at the two women.

Spirit started to object, and then thought better of it. Bending down he started to pick Azusa up when Stein's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "I didn't just nearly freeze you to death so you could cause the swelling to restart, Spirit. Go up the stairs and open the first door on the right. That's Marie's room. The two of you can stay there tonight."

Spirit started that way and watched as Stein picked Azusa up and carried her up the stairs behind Spirit. He laid her down in the bed, and Azusa reached out. Stein quickly moved out of the way and pushed Spirit towards her reaching hand.

"Goodnight, Senpai. Don't do anything strenuous, I don't want to have to repeat tonight." He said as he left.

Spirit looked down at Azusa, smiling as she reached out blindly towards him again. _'I wonder if she even noticed that that wasn't me that carried her up here.'_ He shrugged, not caring. He took off his suit jacket and tie, and then climbed into bed, wrapping his arms around her protectively.

Her soul reached out to his instinctively, and he felt it as it resonated with his. He closed his eyes, smiling.

* * *

Stein walked back down the stairs and found Marie curled up in a ball on the loveseat, her shoulders shaking as she cried.

"Marie?" He asked gently and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Is… is he ok, Franken?" Her voice was little more than a whisper.

"He'll be fine, Marie."

"I caused it, Franken. It's my fault. If I hadn't called him to help the other night… It's all my fault."

"Marie, stop it." His voice was low and serious. "If you hadn't called him to help you the other night there is a very, very high probability that I would be dead right now, my heart laying somewhere on the floor of the lab. If I managed to remain lucid enough to not remove my own heart, there's a good chance that it would have been yours. You didn't make a mistake, and it isn't your fault that Spirit got hurt. If anyone has blame to take here, it is me."

Marie looked up at him, her face soaked with tears, and so was her eye patch. Stein reached out slowly and removed it, letting his thumb rest gently on the lid so that she wouldn't open her eye as he cupped her cheek with the rest of his hand.

"Franken?" She asked questioningly.

He responded by kissing her slowly. Wrapping both arms around her he pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for saving me, Marie."

* * *

Spirit heard the alarm going off from the other room, and sounds of movement. He tried to ignore it, focusing instead on the warm, soft body laying curled up against him. Azusa was still asleep, and Spirit wanted to stay that way until he heard someone knock on the bedroom door and he remembered where he was.

"Spirit, we're almost done getting ready to leave. If you and Azusa want, you can stay here until you both feel like getting up. Stein and I won't be back until after classes at the DWMA, so around four."

"Thanks Marie. I think I'll let her sleep until she wakes and then we'll go."

"Alright!" Marie flashed a bright smile at them, closing the door.

Spirit smiled down at Azusa who had taken the initiative to move closer to him, her head snuggling into his chest.

"Spirit…" She said groggily.

"Yes, Azusa?"

"I love you."

There wasn't even a heartbeat of hesitation before Spirit replied. "I love you too, Azusa."

* * *

Marie turned after letting Spirit know that they were leaving and walked right into Stein. "Oh, Franken! I'm so sorry!" She blushed as Stein smiled.

"Don't be, Marie." He said as he wrapped his arms around her and drew her close to him. She gasped as he brushed the hair away from her neck and slowly kissed it, teasing the skin a bit with his teeth. She could feel his chuckle against her chest as she felt her body arch towards him.

And then he broke all intimate contact with her, and was standing about two feet away, watching her reaction.

"Do you still not mind being my Test Subject, Marie?" He asked quietly.

She laughed and took a step towards him, flattening herself against him. "So long as you don't mind being mine." She said in a breathy voice.

'_Today is going to be a long day.'_ They both thought as they walked down the stairs.

* * *

**A/N: I hope that you're enjoying this still :) Thanks for the encouragement, going to keep trying to get chapters out asap. Love you all!**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	13. It Takes One to Know One

Stein and Marie both coasted through the day, eager to get back to the lab. The class was more than a little surprised when, with almost an hour left in the school day Stein stood and announced that class was over.

"But, Professor Stein, we still have an hour of class…" Maka started to protest and was pulled down into her seat by Soul.

"Hush, Maka!" He hissed at her. "I don't want to be cooped up in here a minute longer than we have to be and the class will kill you if he decides to change his mind!"

Maka looked up to see if Professor Stein was going to, and was shocked to find him and Ms. Marie already gone. She turned to look at Soul and he was already halfway out of the class.

"Hey, wait for me!" She called out, chasing after him.

* * *

Stein had grabbed Marie's hand less than 10 seconds after dismissing class, and they were already well down the hallway before what he had said registered with the class.

"Stein, what are you doing?" Marie asked, almost having to run to keep up with his longer legged stride.

"An experiment, Marie." He said, no trace of any emotions in his voice.

"What?" She asked as he took them down a set of stairs, heading down into the basement. Stein didn't answer.

Marie quickly lost track of the twists and turns they made and she sighed. "Stein, can you at least slow down? I'm having to almost run to keep up with you."

"Then transform, Marie. I don't want to have to slow down because you can't keep up."

The comment stung her, but Marie transformed. As she did so, Stein allowed the smirk he had been holding in to finally show on his face. He had Marie just how he wanted her now.

Marie felt Stein's soul reach out to resonate with hers, and reached out to join it. It was only when they were fully resonating that she felt the laughter coming from deep inside Stein's soul.

"_What's so funny, Franken?" _She thought at him irritably.

"_My experiment is going exactly as I thought that it would, Marie."_

"_What do you me-" _Marie's thought patterns cut off suddenly when she felt Stein's soul surge over hers, completely drowning her out. The feeling wasn't altogether unpleasant, but Marie lost the ability to perceive her surroundings, completely lost in her meister's soul.

"_Marie. Focus. Don't give in." _His voice teased her mind and she could just barely see the island of safety.

Marie couldn't even answer, fighting for her sense of self was taking priority.

"_Marie, fight." _His voice was as sharp as a scalpel. _"Don't let me win." _The weight on her soul redoubled and she felt as if she were once again drowning.

"_Marie!" _Stein's voice screamed in her head.

"_No." _Marie whispered the word, her soul curling into itself. _"I can't. I won't fight you, Franken, because I love how you are. Even if that means I drown, I drown with you."_

A second later Marie felt a touch on her shoulder and looked over to see Stein beside her, swimming up with her to the top of the waters, as the enormous weight of his soul lifted off of her.

"_Franken?"_

There was no response.

* * *

Her view of the world returned and she transformed back to her human form, only to find that she was lying on a bed. "This is… one of the holding cells." She said as she looked around.

"Yes, it is. There should be no interruptions." Stein was hovering over her, the light glinting off his glasses and hiding his eyes. There was a sadistic grin spread on his face.

"Franken?" She whispered.

"There will be no interruptions, Marie. I can experiment to my heart's content here. Even if you scream… when you scream, no one will come. Don't you understand, Marie? You're at my mercy." He bent down level to her face and then nipped gently at her neck, before moving up to her ear, breathing quietly, blowing the hot air down the side of her neck.

"I'm going to dissect you, Marie Mjolnir." He whispered in her ear, and Marie felt a chill run down her spine as she felt his hands on her sides.

"Franken, stop." She said, her voice trembling slightly.

"You proved a second ago that you don't want me to, Marie. Or you would have fought back." A smirk was plastered on his face.

"Franken, stop." The trembling was gone from her voice, and he could almost see the ghost of her smile as she pushed her hands against his chest. Her soul was… quivering. He grinned.

He pinned both her hands to the bed, and while careful of her broken arm, he used his superior strength to keep them there as he whispered in her ear. "I am going to dissect you, so you may as well enjoy it." She was very careful to hide her smile.

She did enjoy it, and true to his word, when she screamed no one came.

* * *

Marie lay panting on the holding cell bed, and Stein stood in the corner smoking.

"Still enjoy being a test subject, Marie?" He asked, a smirk on his face.

"Don't forget, Franken, that comes with a price." She smiled sweetly at him.

"I haven't forgotten, Marie."

"You terrify me sometimes." She said suddenly.

He looked over at her, ash falling from the tip of his cigarette. "How is that, Marie?"

"I never know if you've actually lost it when you start your little games." She stood and started getting dressed. "I'm never sure if you're going to actually dissect me or not." She said with a little laugh, not really joking.

He crossed to her and kissed her, tasting of smoke. She pulled back and he smiled. "You wouldn't have me be any other way, Marie."

She giggled, he was right. _'With as stand offish as Stein is with everyone else, I never imagined that he would be this… hands on.' _Her giggle intensified.

"Marie?" He asked, his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her.

"It's nothing Stein." She smiled up at him, a giggle still evident.

* * *

After they got home that night, Marie cooked and Stein added a new entry to his database.

"Stein?" Marie's voice called from the other room.

"Yes?"

"Could you come here for a second?"

Stein stood and walked into the kitchen to find Marie standing in front of the oven.

"I can't get it out." She said petulantly.

"How did you even get it in? Your arm's still in that cast."

"It wasn't hot so I could brace one side against my side and slide it in. It's hot now though and I don't want to burn myself."

Stein laughed. "I'd fix you up, Marie. Sandpaper is a good substitute for skin, you know."

She giggled, finally starting to get used to his sense of humor.

"It smells good, Marie." He said, truthfully.

"Thank you." She smiled, no… smirked at him. "The rest of dinner is done, too." Stein removed the closed pan from the oven and moved it over to the table.

He couldn't help but stare. Marie had obviously taken great pains with this meal, and not in a good way. He was left staring down at a person made of food, completely with spaghetti hair, a walnut for a brain, a sliced tomato heart and celery pieces wrapped in pieces of ham that he assumed represented bones and skin. There were even macaroni noodles representing intestines and a grape for the stomach. How it fit onto his plate was a miracle of knife work, he admitted grudgingly.

"What exactly is in the pan, Marie?" He asked, looking up.

"Every body has something that that one seems to be lacking, Franken." She smiled sweetly, then raised the lid and slipped a ladle in, keeping the pan almost completely covered. She removed some of the liquid from the pan and poured it onto his plate.

"Blood." He replied, looking down at the dark red liquid that was pooling around the little figure.

"Have fun dissecting, Franken!" She called out as she left, a grin on her face.

He just shook his head. _'And they call me the sadistic one. I've never built a body just to give it to someone else to eat.'_

He stood up and walked over to look in the actual pan. _'Stew.'_ He couldn't help but laugh. _'She added food coloring to it to turn the base red, since she knew it would be thick enough. She actually cooked stew. In the oven…' _The last part was a little confusing.

'_Why would she do something like this, though?' _He wondered suddenly, then realized that she had actually left the room.

"Marie?" He called out, walking out of the kitchen/dining area and into the sitting area. "Marie, aren't you going to eat?"

There was no response. "Marie, you won't win this game. You can't hide from me and you know that." Stein could feel a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. He kept his expression neutral. No need to let her know he was enjoying this if she was watching.

"Marie?" Stein walked up the steps and slowly opened the door to her room. Even detecting souls revealed nothing. He shook his head, slowly scanning around the home. _'She knows I can do this, why even try to hide from me?'_

He reached up and turned the screw as he looked for her wavelength. He finally found it, above his head.

"She's on the roof?" He asked himself, wondering what she could be doing up there. Stein made his way up the stairs that led to the roof, noting that the dust had indeed been recently disturbed. He opened the door and stepped onto the roof. "Marie?" He asked, looking towards where he had last felt her wavelength.

He was greeted by a hammer swinging towards his head. Marie cackled madly, and lunged towards him when he managed to stagger out of the way.

"Marie?" He exclaimed, dodging back. "Marie, what are you doing?"

Her only response was a sadistic grin and another high pitched cackle.

'_This isn't right. Focus!' _Stein dodged yet another swing, this one taking a chunk of the building down to the ground. _'Damn! When did I let her get me so close to the edge?"_

"Steeiiin..." Marie drew his name out. "I thought you weren't going to come play. And I've wanted to play all day." She lunged at him again, and he dodged out of the way, barely avoiding her hammer shaped left arm.

"But have you eaten all your dinner? You know, I shall have to punish you if you're out here playing and haven't had your dinner yet…" Her voice curved up into another cackle as she swung at him again.

'_Is the madness affecting her too?' _Stein wondered, completely on the defensive. _'No, this is something else. She's in full control of her actions, and while she's actively attacking me, she's not actually trying to injure me. She's… acting.' _Stein couldn't help but smirk, her words from earlier echoing in his ears.

"_You terrify me sometimes…"_

"You're experimenting, Marie. I'm impressed." He watched as the grin on her face seemed to reach from ear to ear. "You wanted to see if I would be afraid."

He dodged back as she let out a pure laugh and swung at him, this time nearly hitting him.

"Don't think that just because you figured it out that means you're getting out of this without any effort, Franken."

He blocked her next attack, grunting at the force. _'I have to remember that no matter what she looks like, Marie is a death scythe.'_

"Well, are you just going to let me win, Franken?" He could see her soul laughing. She was enjoying this reversal of roles much more than he had ever imagined that she would.

She was unprepared for him to dash at her and only her death scythe honed reflexes let her dodge his attack, his wavelength dancing along the hand that had passed only a hair's breath away from her chin. "You won't win this game, Marie." He promised, pushing the attack.

He'd forgotten how fast she was. He hadn't had to see her in action without a meister for a very long time, and she ducked underneath his hand, slamming her fist into his stomach and knocking him back a few feet.

"You're not hitting very hard, Marie. Your age catching up with you?" He taunted. "Most women your age are married with kids."

The hammer hit him square in the jaw, knocking his glasses off and over the edge. He winced and rubbed his jaw.

"I. Am. Not. Old." Marie hissed out.

"Tsk, tsk. Don't let your anger get the best of you, Pulverizer." Stein felt the smirk grow on his face.

She surprised him by laughing. "Stein?" She called out.

"Yeah?"

"At least I don't look like I'm 70!" She lunged, still laughing.

He sidestepped the lunge, laughing, then realized how close they were to the actual edge of the roof. Marie couldn't stop herself. He dove towards her, his hand outstretched as she fell.

She screamed, reaching towards him.

* * *

**A/N: Having mock battles isn't that odd for a couple, for all you naysayers, it's a good way to relieve stress and just have some fun… especially when your other half has had the upper hand recently ;). The next chapter should (I say should, not definitely will) revolve around Azusa and Spirit :), then we'll get back to this… cliffhanger.**

**Love you all! Thanks for the reviews and PMs- keep 'em coming ;) A happy author is a productive author LOL.  
**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	14. Relentless Emotions

**A/N: Oh no, it's on the top of the page! This must be important.**

**Yeah, I lied. The SpiritxAzusa chapter did end up in In a Time of Need, so this will be the continuation of Chapter 13. Love you all, though :)**

**And the cliffhanger bit was a tongue in cheek thing- since it wasn't a cliff, but a building. Sorry, my sense of humor's a little odd :)**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**

* * *

Stein dove towards Marie, her scream echoing in his ears. They were four stories up. She wouldn't have time to fall properly. She was going to die, all over a game.

'_I'm going to lose her!'_ Stein felt fear try to paralyze him and fought against it with all he had.

He came over the side of the lab, his hand desperately reaching for hers, their fingertips touching as she plummeted.

He forgot again that she was a death scythe. In a flash of golden light she appeared in weapon form safely tucked in and around his hand and arm. The added weight, slight though it was, almost sent them both over the edge. He pulled himself back onto the building and Marie appeared beside him, tears already in her eye.

"F-Franken… I'm so sorry." She collapsed beside him. "It was all a game… an experiment… you seem to enjoy them so much…"

Stein wrapped his arms around the woman and held her while she sobbed into his chest. "Marie, next time please choose a safer place for your experiments." He titled her head up and gently kissed her. "You succeeded though. You did terrify me."

Her smile was shaky. "I guess it would be a draw then, I managed to terrify myself in the process. Although, I guess I could have grabbed your glasses for you while I was down there."

Stein smiled and bent down to pick her up. The stitches on his chest protested a bit, but they were almost completely healed by now. "What are you doing?" She asked, squirming a bit.

"Just enjoy being carried over the threshold, Marie." He chuckled.

She batted his chest with her left hand. "Jerk."

* * *

Once they were safely back downstairs Marie cleaned the man-plate away and served them both some of the stew that she had made. It was surprisingly good.

"How long will I have to wear the cast and have the stitches in?" She asked suddenly.

"Another few days for the stitches, I don't want to remove them too early, and as for the cast, at least three more weeks, and then we'll see how the X-Rays look on it. Are the stitches starting to itch?"

"Unbearably."

"That's a good sign, Marie." He said through a mouthful of stew.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" She scolded him.

He hid his smirk. Sometimes he did things just to see Marie's reaction. She was quite cute when angry. _'Until she hits me in the head with her hammer, that is.' _He thought chuckling.

The phone rang halfway through dinner and Stein looked at Marie before shrugging and answering it. "She's here, Azusa, but we're eating. Mind calling later?"

When Stein sat back down at the table, Marie asked, "What did Azusa want, Stein?"

"She said that she wanted to talk to you about Spirit, but wouldn't say what about."

"I'll call her back in the morning; it's already almost 11pm. I'm exhausted and by the time we clean up, I'll be more than ready for bed." She smiled, stifling a yawn.

They finished eating, and Marie turned to do the dishes up before bed. To her surprise Stein actually carried the dishes from the table to the sink. "Don't you have some data to enter, or papers to grade?" She asked as he started to help her wash the dishes.

He looked over at her, and the look in his eyes said what he never could. She had terrified him, and he wasn't going to let her out of his sight for a long while.

They washed dishes in companionable silence.

* * *

Stein lay on his side in bed beside Marie, holding her slumbering form close to his. Her fall kept running over and over in his mind, no matter how many times he turned the screw.

'_I simply don't understand how normal individuals manage to cope with all the emotions I am told they all have on a daily basis. Love, hate, fear, happiness, sadness.' _He shook his head, turning the screw again. _'Fear nearly froze me today. Marie could have died because of that. She could have died if she hadn't thought to transform when she did.'_

He looked down at the sleeping woman. "You're bad for me, Marie; and I'm bad for you. Neither of us realizes just how much we're relying on each other." He whispered, almost inaudibly. "You're changing me and I'm not sure how to cope with all these emotions. I almost lost you because of them."

She didn't respond verbally, but she curled her body closer to his, a small sigh escaping her lips as she did so; she looked so peaceful sleeping.

Stein looked out the window, an idea starting to form.

* * *

An hour later Stein stood in his lab, mixing together different chemical compounds. He held the beaker up to the light and smiled. Withdrawing a syringe he pushed the plunger down and then filled the syringe with the mixture.

'_Yes, the dosing should be right. If I'm correct this will boost my body's production of the chemical balances that cause emotions.'_

He slid the needle into a vein on his left arm, pushing the plunger down and winced as the mixture entered his blood stream. He quickly hooked the machine up to himself that scans of his brain, and started the second part of the experiment.

The reactions were markedly more pronounced than they had been the first time he had performed this experiment.

He started the third phase of the experiment then, using images that were known as a generality to evoke specific emotions in the viewer. The results far exceeded what he had anticipated. The image that was designed to evoke anger did- and he shattered his computer monitor when he put his fist through it.

Stein blinked. _'Well, that was a much stronger response than I had anticipated. Perhaps a lower dosage would be for the best. It also seems to work quite fast; it's only been… two hours.'_

"Stein?" Marie's voice came from behind him. "Are you alright?"

He looked down at his bleeding hand. "Marie, I'm sorry if I woke you."

She ignored his statement. "Why did you do that, Stein? Are you alright?"

"An experiment, Marie."

"Breaking your computer monitor by punching it was an experiment?" She asked, apparently confused.

"I… I was attempting to find something to boost the productions of the chemicals in my body that allow a normal individual to feel emotions. I was hoping that if I could I would be able to better understand them, and how to deal with them." A new emotion was stirring in Stein, one that he had felt before and understood fairly well. Lust. He fought it, he didn't want to give into that emotion- it wouldn't be him he hurt this time.

But the way her sleep shirt hung down off one shoulder and clung just right was driving him mad, especially when she walked over and sat down on his knee, taking his injured hand in her own and kissed the fingertips gently.

"Let's get that bandaged up, Stein. Maybe I'll stitch it for you." He could feel her warmth in her smile as she giggled quietly at her own joke. She cleaned and bandaged his hand, her proximity driving him mad.

His breathing was coming faster, bodily responses pushed to their limit. "Marie…" He said quietly.

"Franken?" His first name. He felt his entire body tingling.

"Marie, I need you to leave me be for a while. The experiment is taking an unexpected turn and I don't want to hurt you."

She noticed it then, and to his surprise she laughed. "I remember telling you that I'd help you with this problem."

She kissed him then and that was all he could take. With a growl he had her against the wall, covering her neck and face with kisses, his hands exploring every bit of her.

* * *

Stein sat smoking at his computer, a new monitor in front of it, pulled out of a forgotten closet. Marie lay asleep on an operating table, exhausted from their last encounter, her breathing slow and deep. Stein added this latest entry to his collection, finally beginning to feel the shot he had given himself starting to wear off.

To put it mildly, he was beginning to feel normal again.

He glanced over at Marie and smirked. He had gained more data tonight than he had in their previous encounters combined. He then glanced over at the beaker that held the chemical solution. Surprising even himself he picked it up, walked over to his disposal area, and poured it out.

Walking back to his computer he felt his knees buckle as a wave of nausea came over him. He looked over at the sleeping Marie on his operating table and then at the array of scalpels and needles sitting not five feet away and he couldn't keep himself from giggling.

'_Get a hold of yourself!' _He screamed at himself, grabbing his left arm with his right hand, collapsing to his knees on the floor. The laughter bubbled up even as he desperately fought to contain himself.

The searing pain brought him back to himself. He blinked as he realized that he had crossed to Marie, and in the process had picked up a scalpel. The same scalpel that was now buried nearly to the handle in his right thigh. Wincing he gingerly removed the scalpel, and examined the wound. It was deep, but it didn't look like it was anything a couple of stitches couldn't handle.

'_Apparently I was able to maintain enough of myself to keep from injuring her.' _He sat back in his chair, cleaning and stitching the small wound. _'Relief. Now that's an emotion that I can understand!' _

Stein picked Marie up gently and carried her back to his room, crawling in bed with her. _'There's only an hour until we have to be up for classes. Where has the night gone to?'_

* * *

Marie woke up slowly the next morning, exhausted. She rolled over to face Stein, nestling her head against his shoulder. He didn't react, sleeping the sleep of the dead. She quietly slipped out of the bed and walked downstairs to call Azusa.

Azusa's number rang and rang then went to voice mail. Marie laughed to herself as she hung up the phone and dialed Spirit's number.

"Hello?" Spirit's voice sounded tired.

"Good morning Spirit! Can I please speak to Azusa?"

"What if I tell you she's not here, Marie?" Spirit teased.

"Oh come on, we both know that she is!" Marie laughed.

She heard him pass the phone to Azusa.

"Alright, Azusa. Spill. You called last night and said it had something to do with Spirit?"

"I have some major news, Marie!" Azusa's voice was happier than Marie had ever heard her before.

"Well, share it then!" Marie laughed over the phone, waving to Stein when he emerged from the bedroom and walked over to wrap his arms around her, laying his head on her shoulder tiredly.

"_You're making too much noise for me to sleep…" _He whispered, laughing quietly.

"We're getting married, Marie!"

The phone dropped from Marie's hand, her expression the cutest little "o" of surprise before she let out a long, loud, high pitched "Eeeeeeeeeee!"

"Marie?" Stein said pulling back. "Is something wrong?"

She ignored him and picked the dropped phone back up. "That's great news Azusa!"

Marie gave Stein a hug and pointed to the calendar before she walked out of the room, gabbing with Azusa.

"Huh. It's Saturday." Stein said. "No classes after all." He went and got changed, then wandered down to the lab while Marie stayed on the phone.


	15. Bells are Ringing, Can you Hear Them?

"I can't believe that you're getting married, Azusa! But it's Spirit; you have taken that into consideration, right? I mean, we both know how it turned out with him and Kami. Don't get me wrong, if he makes you happy, I'm happy for you!" Marie giggled.

"Oh come on, Marie! At least if my fiancé decides to do what he's known for I won't wind up in pieces!"

Marie laid back on the bed, giggling. "You know full well that I won't wind up in pieces, Stein's too professional for that, I'd just wind up with stitches all over me!"

"Seriously though, Marie, I want to ask you something." Azusa's voice said.

"What's that?" Marie sat up on the bed.

"Why didn't you tell me that Stein had proposed!"

Marie blushed. "Did I seriously not, Azusa?"

"You didn't."

"I'm sorry! It's just that with everything that's been happening I haven't even gotten to start planning yet!"

Azusa's voice laughed over the phone. "Well, that's going to change! I'm dropping Spirit off and then we have a full day ahead of us!"

* * *

Spirit looked up at that. "Wait, did I just hear right? You scheduled a girl's day out AND made me a play date with Stein all in the same breath?" His eyes were wide with terror.

"That's about it, Spirit." Azusa smiled at him. "I have some things that I need to do, and so does Marie, which means that I need the two of you to keep each other busy. And if you don't, well, I'll make you go shopping with me next time!"

Spirit sweat dropped, his face going pale. "Sh-shopping? I think Stein and I can work something out, Azusa."

"That's great news!" She smiled sweetly. "Now get out so I can change!"

Spirit walked out the door before he realized what had just happened. _'I just got kicked out of my room by someone I've slept with because she didn't want me to see her get naked to change. How in Death's name does that make any sense? Women!'_

He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and hair, then sat down on the couch so that he could wait for Azusa to clear that bedroom so he could go and get dressed. When she finally did come out, Spirit walked past and smirked.

"That's going to have to change, you know." He said as walked into the room.

"What is?"

"Oh, I've seen you naked now, Azusa. And you've agreed to marry me. You'll have to let me get dressed at the same time as you one of these days!" He laughed as she blushed because she noticed that he was still in his boxers, and closed the door.

'_He'll be the death of me!' _Azusa thought as she grabbed her purse.

"Hurry up, Spirit!"

A muffled thump answered her, and she opened the door to find Spirit on the ground, one leg stuck in his pants. He looked up and just shrugged, pulling the pant leg flat to try again.

"Still having some difficulties?"

"It's nothing, really." He said. "If it gets worse I'll have Stein check and make sure that I'm still fine."

She nodded, and stood there watching him dress.

"That's a double standard isn't, Azusa?" He grinned. "You can stand there gawking, but I can't even dress with my back turned towards you?"

He stopped when he noticed that she was staring. "What is it, Azusa?"

"So many scars." She said in a whisper.

"Eh, most of them have faded away to nearly nothing."

"Stein did those?"

"Some. Most." He shrugged and pointed to one that ran around his side. "I got that one from a particularly nasty hit. It surprised both me and Stein. I thought I was going to break, if that makes any sense."

She pointed to one just to the left of his navel. "That one?"

"Stein."

Another fading scar, this one near his left hip. "That one?"

"Stein."

She touched one on his lower back. "Stein, again?"

"Yeah." He thought for a moment. "Pretty much any of the smaller ones were Stein's. The big one on my side and the one under my right arm are the only two that I can actually remember how they happened."

"That's… barbaric."

"It's Stein. Kami found out, and I switched Meisters. All weapons have something odd between them and a meister, mine just happened to be a little self-destructive." He shrugged. Spirit saw his opportunity and took it.

"You're sending me back to that madman's lair, Azusa. How can you stand to do that to someone you have professed to love?" He spun in a circle. "Surely I would be much safer staying with you and Marie. Even if it is something such as shopping!" He collapsed onto the bed, the back of his hand draped across his brow. "Wouldst the ladies deign to let me carry their bags whilst they shop?"

'_Anything to avoid a day spent with Stein after she dredged up all those old memories!' _

"You're spending time with Stein, Spirit. Now finish getting dressed so we can go."

'_Now that's the Committee I knew and feared.' _He thought laughing.

* * *

"Marie, you're going to be gone all day?"

"Yes, Franken. Spirit's coming over to keep your company though."

"Marie, do you think that that is the best idea? I don't enjoy the idea of you being out all the day."

"Franken, what's wrong?" She asked suddenly, looking directly at him. He felt his hand tighten around the freshly stitched incision in his leg.

"It's nothing, Marie." He said, and realized as soon as he said it that he had said it too fast.

'Don't lie to me."

Stein blinked. _'She would have to say that, in that tone.' _He thought darkly. He just sighed and tugged the leg of his pants up and over his thigh, exposing the fresh stitches.

"I had an attack last night, Marie. After, while you were asleep on the operating table. I couldn't help myself. I don't know how I managed to do it, but I wound up burying the scalpel in my leg instead of you." He looked up at her. "That's why it worries me that you'll be gone."

Marie wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. "I'm just a phone call away, and Spirit will be here with you, Franken." He felt that warmth flow over him as she continued, "You're going to be alright. I promise."

He let his head rest on her shoulder. "I know, Marie. Just, don't do anything stupid."

She smiled as the door opened and Spirit and Azusa walked in.

* * *

Stein couldn't help but notice the death look that Azusa was giving him as they walked in. "Marie, did I do something to piss Azusa off?" He whispered in her ear. She just shrugged.

"Let's go Marie!" Azusa called out cheerfully. "Stein?"

"Yeah, Committee?" He said, wary.

"Spirit better be in the same physical condition that he is now when I get back. If I find any new scars I'll kill you. Sorry, Marie."

Marie just burst into laughter. Azusa wasn't joking.

Once the women had left Spirit turned to Stein, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that Stein. Azusa walked in on me while I was dressing today and saw some of the scars you had left."

"It might be worth her attempting to kill me to get a few of the experiments finished that I had to leave unfinished all those years ago." Stein said over his shoulder to Spirit.

'_It's like he can control when the light glints off his glasses!' _ Spirit thought, feeling himself pale thinking about the experiments.

"Relax, Senpai." Stein laid a hand on Spirit's shoulder. The effect was not comforting in any way.

"Well, Stein, it's not like we have to stay here all day while the girls are out anyway." Spirit said, swallowing hard. "Let's go out and have some fun!"

"I hardly think that I'll agree with your version of fun. But, alright."

Spirit blinked. _'Stein just agreed to go with me for "fun". Is he sick?'_

"Looks like we'll be walking, though. Somehow Azusa managed to get my vehicle, again." Spirit joked, taking a cigarette out of his pocket as he and Stein left. "You're not going to lock up?"

"Lock up my lab? I don't think I could pay a thief to go in there anymore." Stein grinned. It was unsettling.

"Why's that Stein?"

"The last one I caught wasn't too pleased when he finally got to leave." A ghost of a chuckle escaped Stein's lips and Spirit shuddered. "Apparently he told some of his friends I was off-limits."

"I guess that's a good thing, Stein." Spirit repressed another shudder.

"So where are we going Senpai?"

"Where do you want to go?" Spirit asked before he could think about it twice.

Stein lit his own cigarette and Spirit couldn't help but snarl his nose. He knew that was Stein's favorite brand, but they stank!

"Still can't stand these eh, Spirit?" He joked.

"They stink, Stein. Worse than most cigarettes. And you never did answer where you'd like to go."

"That's because I don't know, Spirit. The last time I went anywhere for "fun" it was when we were still students, and only because you forced me to."

"Wha? The last time you went out for fun was when I forced you to go to the street fair with Kami and I?"

"Yes."

"Stein, that hardly counts."

"Seeing as Kami threatened to use the hammer for the strength game on me, I should agree." Stein smirked a bit. "I think she would have too, if I hadn't left."

"I still don't know what you did to piss her off so bad, Stein. That was before she found out that you were cutting me open at night."

The light glinted off of Stein's glasses and he laughed. _'That's it! I'm convinced that he can control that glint!'_ Spirit thought.

"I simply offered to help with her current predicament. Did you know that she was on her menstrual cycle then, Spirit?"

"I… found out later that night." Spirit looked embarrassed.

"Apparently she didn't appreciate my offer. Women seem to be rather protective of their ability to bear children."

"Would you want someone to castrate you, Stein?"

Stein looked thoughtful for a moment. "Truthfully? Now I wouldn't, but up until a few weeks ago I wouldn't have cared if they did."

"Alright then, Stein. What do you do for fun?" Spirit regretted the question before Stein even answered.

"I dissect things."

"Alright, let's try again. What do you do to relax?"

"Dissect things."

Spirit sighed. "What do you do when you aren't dissecting things?"

"Look for things to dissect."

"Stein, you're entirely too morbid."

"You're the one who asked the questions that you knew the answer to, Senpai." Stein smirked.

Spirit stopped walking, completely at a loss of what to do next. Chupa Cabra's wasn't open yet. Stein wasn't the type to go to the movies. Nor was he the type to do anything that could be considered social.

'_So why in Death's name did he agree to come out, knowing he didn't want to?' _Spirit sighed.

"You're going to have to figure something out, Stein. I know you won't enjoy anything that I pick." Stein didn't answer. Spirit looked up and followed Stein's gaze. They had walked long enough to catch up with Azusa and Marie.

Stein was looking through the glass window of the small shop at the two women. Both of whom were trying on wedding dresses.

"They're planning." Stein said simply.

"I just asked Azusa today!"

"You what?" Stein turned and looked at Spirit. "You proposed to Azusa?"

"I thought Marie had told you when Azusa told her, Stein."

"She didn't. She talked to Azusa, and then never mentioned it." He stared at Marie.

'_She's beautiful.' _He thought to himself._ 'I wonder why she didn't tell me that Spirit had proposed to Azusa though. Maybe she thought it would make me change my mind about it? Or maybe it's just a women's thing where they only tell women and men only tell men? I'll have to ask about the rules on that I suppose.'_

"Stein!" Spirit hissed, dragging the meister away from the window. "They're coming out! Don't let them see you!" The two men ducked into an alley just in time.

* * *

**A/N: Dum dum dum dum, dum dum dum dum… (that's the wedding song fyi) Next chapter will start with Marie and Azusa shopping! Hold tight :)**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	16. Shopping Trip!

"Aren't they starting shopping a little early, Spirit?" Stein asked from the alley.

"How am I supposed to know? Kami planned our entire wedding, I just showed up!"

"Well, when did she start planning?"

Spirit smoothed his hair down and thought. "A few months before the wedding, maybe as many as six I think?" He looked at Stein. "Have you two set a date yet?"

"Not yet, not with the kishin being on the loose still. You?"

"I just proposed yesterday!"

"So, that's a no then."

"Exactly." Spirit looked around the corner. "So what do you say, Stein? Follow them? Looks like they're going to walk to the next place."

Stein's head peeked out from just above Spirit's. The look on his face was enough, Stein was curious. He'd never had the opportunity to observe women socializing like this.

The two men followed Marie and Azusa carefully, watching as they went from store to store, window shopping. They didn't buy anything, and a few times Stein and Spirit were close enough to actually hear what the women were talking about.

* * *

"Well, Marie, have you two set a date?"

"Not yet, I don't know when we'll be able to." Marie smiled over at Azusa, taking a drink of her lemonade. "After as worked up as I've been about getting married and all you'd think I'd be pushier about it, but really, I don't mind waiting now. I'm going to get to, after all. And this gives me plenty of time to plan and shop. Our wedding is going to be perfect!"

"Do you think you'll actually get Stein into a tux?"

Marie laughed as Spirit looked at Stein, trying to imagine him in a tux. "I don't think so, Azusa. He 'dressed up' for the school's anniversary celebration, and even then, he was still in his lab coat I heard." A blush colored her cheeks as she thought of a dressed up Stein.

"Well, what about all those garish stitches? Are you really going to let him stitch up your wedding dress, the cake, everything?" Azusa asked quite seriously, leaning forward on her elbows on the table. "It seems like he would want to have them on everything, he already puts them everywhere."

"Well…" Marie started, obviously thinking.

Spirit looked over at Stein, and realized that Stein was actually waiting to see Marie's response. He nudged the taller man in the side. _"Would you honestly cover everything in stitches?" _Spirit whispered to Stein. He tried to suppress a chuckle as Stein just nodded.

Marie smiled suddenly, closing her visible eye and tilting her head to the side. "Of course, if he wants to, he can. I love everything about him, including his stitches!"

The look on Azusa's face was priceless. "I thought that you wanted your wedding to be perfect!" She exclaimed.

"It will be as long as I'm there, Stein's there and all of our friends are." Marie's smile never faltered. "What about you, Azusa? Are you going to let Spirit have any type of input in your wedding?"

"Of course not." Stein chuckled quietly. "Men don't understand anything about planning a wedding. If I allowed him to plan it we'd probably have awful colors and nurse's uniforms for the bride's maids. It's much safer if I take charge of the entire affair. And of course, I will be making sure that Spirit, along with his best man and his groomsmen are in tuxes. That means Stein will be in a tux, without stitches, at least once!"

Both women started laughing. Stein looked at Spirit, obviously curious about that last statement. _"Should be obvious, Stein. Azusa assumes you'll be my best man and Marie assumes I'll be yours." _Spirit whispered.

"_Why's that, Senpai?"_

"_Oh come on, you're not stupid. I'm about the only friend you've got, and as much as I hate to admit it, you're the only actual choice I'd have as well!" _Spirit couldn't contain the laugh this time as Stein smirked and both women glanced up from the table to see the two of them sitting just a few tables over, partially obscured by a plant.

"Oh, shit." Spirit said underneath his breath as the two women walked over to them.

"Azusa, Marie!" He started, "We didn't see you there! What a coincidence! Stein and I were just-"

"Spying on us." Azusa said, adjusting her glasses, the light glinting off of them.

'_She can do it too?'_

"Now why would we want to do something like that?" Spirit asked, trying to make his voice sound as hurt as he could. "We were-"

"We were simply out looking for a gift for Maka." Stein filled in suddenly. "Spirit was worried that she would feel he was neglecting her with as much time as he's spent with you Azusa, and wanted to find something that she may like. We decided to take a break as we haven't had any luck, and came here to sit and get something to drink." He tapped the cup sitting in front of him.

Marie smiled, obviously believing him. Azusa didn't look like she did, and Spirit continued. "Yeah, we were going to go to a couple of bookstores once we got done with our drinks. Though, if you two want to join us we could stop a bit early for lunch. We were going to go after the bookstores."

"That's not a bad idea, Azusa." Marie said, sitting down next to Stein, taking his hand in hers. Spirit watched amusedly as Stein just sat there, Marie holding his hand. He made no move to hold hers, just letting his sit against hers.

'_He's still not sure how to act in public with her.' _Spirit thought, fighting the chuckle.

"If you say so, Marie. Just remember that we have six more stores to get to, so we're on a bit of a strict time table."

"We'll be fine, Azusa!"

"And we'll have to leave after that so we can try to find something for my little Maka." Spirit said, keeping up Stein's lie.

"Well, where would you two lovely ladies like to eat?" Spirit said, smiling.

* * *

Half an hour later the four of them were sitting down at a small restaurant that had advertised itself as "The best pasta outside of Italy." Walking into it, they were struck by how small it actually was, it might seat twenty people at full capacity, and they were currently the only people in it.

"Well, this certainly looks like a winner." Stein said dryly.

"I'm sure the food will be great!" Marie said optimistically as she grabbed Stein's arm and pulled him to a table. Spirit bowed and waved his hand in front of him to let Azusa go first.

The waitress looked to be maybe fifteen, but she took their drink orders and was back quickly. "At least the service is good here so far." Azusa said.

"Hey, this was your two's idea!" Spirit said. "Don't blame me or Stein for it."

Light glinted from somewhere off Azusa's glasses and Spirit just shook his head as it happened and she said, "Actually, it was Marie's idea."

"It'll be great, Azusa!" Marie smiled, reassuringly. Stein just chuckled.

It took about twenty minutes after they ordered their food for it to arrive, and they were all starting to get antsy when the girl finally brought it out.

"I'm sorry for your wait, but the chef insisted on rolling fresh pasta for all of your dishes. I hope that you enjoy it!" She sat each plate down in front of the correct person, filled up their drinks and went back into the back, smiling pleasantly. They ate in companionable silence; the food was actually quite good.

They were about halfway through their meal when they heard the crash from the kitchen, and the young girl's cry of alarm. Stein and Spirit looked at each other and went over to stick their heads in the door to the kitchen.

They saw the blood first, the chef holding his hand where he had sliced it nearly to the bone. Stein was at his side in a second, pulling the hand that was holding it away from the wound.

"Let me see!" He demanded when the chef resisted. "It's going to hurt whether or not you'll holding it, and I have to see if there's anything in the wound, how deep it is, and how bad it is!"

Marie cradled her hand to her stomach. Stein had taken the stitches out of it just this morning, along with the ones in the back of her head, but she still felt bad for the man; his cut looked quite a bit worse than her own had been. She then realized that the young waitress was sobbing, and walked over to her, pulling the girl close to her.

Stein was shaking his head. He looked up at the waitress. "I need whatever the highest proof alcohol you have is. Hurry." He was already reaching into his pockets and pulling out string, needles and a scalpel.

"You carry all of that with you?" Spirit asked suddenly, looking at Stein.

"Of course I do." Stein said as if it should have been the obvious answer.

The waitress only hesitated for a second before she went off and came back with what Stein had asked for. He uncorked it and poured a substantial amount over the needle and the wound, using a clean rag to wipe away the remaining blood.

"This is going to hurt a bit." He said, handing the chef the bottle. "You should probably take a few swigs."

He waited until the chef had taken a deep draw then pushed the needle through the wound, starting to stitch it up. He talked while he did, trying to keep the chef's attention focused on something other than the pain.

"You're going to need to go to the hospital tomorrow and have them look it over to make sure that there's no infection starting. They can take the stitches out if there isn't in about 10 days. It will still be tender after that, so you may need to take a vacation from cooking for a while. In fact, I highly recommend it; the heat and moisture from cooking will be detrimental to the stitches and could weaken them."

The chef was just nodding. "Th-thank you." He stammered out.

Stein looked as if he hadn't expected the man to say thank you. He blinked as he finished the stitches and replied. "You're welcome."

The chef stood unsteadily to his feet. "I'm going to close down after you all are finished eating… I'm sorry that I interrupted your meal." He looked over at the chicken he had been cleaning and used his good hand to push it off and into the trash. When he saw them looking at him strangely he said simply, "I won't serve something that I could have potentially gotten blood on. It's not sanitary. Thank you again. Your meals are of course on the house." He paused for a second, looking down at his hand. "You're welcome to eat here whenever you want, free of charge."

"That's not necessary." Stein said. "You're just lucky we were here."

"Thank Death you were." The man said quietly.

* * *

After they finished eating, the chef showed them out, and they watched as he closed down the small restaurant for the day.

"That was very nice of you, Franken." Marie said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"What else would I have done, Marie? His hand needed immediate attention." He asked. She just smiled, wrapping her arm around his, threading her fingers through his. He looked down at her and everyone could see the smile he gave her.

"Well, ladies, this is where we have to part ways!" Spirit announced. "We have some book stores to get to and I think that I heard that the two of you have six more stores to get to and a very strict time table!" He started to walk off when he felt more than saw it.

The women were planning something.

"Why don't you two just come with us?" Marie asked sweetly. Azusa pushed her glasses up, the light glinting off of them and Spirit shivered.

"Erm…"

"If you have no objections, then let's go. Single file!" Azusa stated. Before they even realized what had happened both Stein and Spirit were standing behind Marie and following the two women. Neither of them could see the smirk that both Azusa and Marie were wearing.

But they could carry the bags when the women finally started shopping.

* * *

**A/N: I hope that you enjoyed shopping! Sorry the update came later than normal, but yesterday I was ruined for writing anything other than one shots I was so tired, so if you want, check the two one shots I did last night! I'll get another chapter for In a Time of Need and this up tonight, I hope. Love you all! Reviews also make me happy :)**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	17. Disappearance

Stein wrapped his arms around Marie as they sat on the couch, both exhausted. He tucked her head under his chin, gently kissing the top of her head. _'Why is it that when we're alone I can figure out what to do, but in public I have no idea?' _He wondered silently as the woman in his arms slowly drifted off to sleep.

Stein sat there holding her for over an hour fighting sleep, enjoying just the feeling of her lying against him, the warmth of her body, and the peace that seemed to constantly radiate from the woman. Underneath it all, though, he could feel the madness rising up, threatening to shatter the shell of whatever it was that was protecting him. And a fragile shell it was.

Marie awoke alone on the couch the next morning.

* * *

"Azusa?" Spirit blinked sleepily at the voice coming through the phone.

"She's asleep, Marie." He said around a yawn.

"Spirit…" Marie's voice broke into tears. "Stein's gone… I can't find him… the door was open when I woke up…"

Spirit sat straight up in bed, Azusa waking as she slid to the side. "Stein's missing?" He said, disbelief in his voice. Marie just sobbed.

'_Stein was doing so much better! He hadn't had an attack in so long…' _

"Marie, we'll find him. He can't have gone far."

Little did they know that Stein really hadn't gone very far. Not far at all.

* * *

Stein opened his eyes, looking into the mirror against his will. Everything told him to flee from the reflection. He knew he should, but he couldn't. Within his fractured mind only one word kept repeating itself.

_**Marie.**_

He had to know, and the person in the mirror could tell him. If only he could make the person talk and not flinch away from him again. If only he could dissect the person staring back at him and make him tell him who, what, where this _**Marie **_thing is.

Blood stained his right shoulder, his own blood, dripping from a self-inflicted incision just behind his right ear. He couldn't get the scalpel positioned correctly to stop the noise though, and had given up. His shirt was gone, lost somewhere he wasn't sure. He was sure the person in the mirror knew though.

If only he could make the person in the mirror speak. But he couldn't reach him; he couldn't interact with the person in the mirror. And that angered him. Stein screamed at the person in the mirror, who screamed back.

Some small spark of the Professor rose, and with a shaky, uncertain hand Stein reached out and drew out, in blood:

42-42-564

* * *

Lord Death looked down at the sobbing death scythe, vainly trying to console her. Spirit and Azusa stood a few paces back.

"Now, now, Marie. I'm sure that Stein will find his way back to us. He always has." His mask seemed to smile. "Why don't we have some tea? Give him some time to come to himself. If anyone sees him, we'll know immediately. I have some of our best out looking for him."

Marie tried to stop crying, but couldn't. In an eye blink a table was sitting in front of the giant mirror in the Death Room and tea was being prepared. Marie collapsed while Spirit and Azusa came over to sit.

"Lord Death?" Spirit asked quietly.

"Yes, Death Scythe?"

"Azusa and I will go out to look for Stein as well."

"I need the two of you here; we think we've found the kishin, Spirit."

The two death scythes looked at each other and Marie stopped sobbing.

"Are you serious, Lord Death?"

"I am. We have a team going after him now. I need all of you to prepare for it. Death Scythe, I need you to stay here with me."

A familiar ring came from the mirror behind Lord Death and they all looked up as Stein appeared in it.

* * *

Something clicked in Stein's mind when the image solidified on the screen and he collapsed to his knees, just his head and screw still visible in the mirror. He could see that _**Marie**_ thing. He wanted that _**Marie **_thing. He needed to dissect it.

Something of his old self fought against it though, and Stein brought his hand up quickly, smashing the mirror, pieces flying everywhere. Blood from his hand added to the stains on his skin, but the pain returned a small vestige of his sanity. He stood shakily, trying to get his bearings before the madness rolled over him again.

"Marie…" He whispered, hitting his knees as the madness rolled over him; a giggle escaping his throat before turning into a high pitched, maniacal laugh.

'_Marie… save me…'_

* * *

"Stein!" Marie screamed as he appeared in the mirror, and only Spirit grabbing her around the waist kept her from running to the mirror.

"Marie, calm down!" He said gruffly.

"Professor Stein!" Lord Death greeted him. "Are you alright?"

They all watched as Stein almost fell out of view, just his head in showing; then as they watched, Stein's hand came up and smashed the mirror. As the slivers fell they could hear him whisper, "Marie…" before falling into cackling madness.

They could also get a glimpse of where he was. He was in the DWMA itself. He was in a room that few people had had a chance to see.

It's torture chamber.

* * *

Marie and Azusa broke into a dead run, trying to make the run in half the time it should take. Both of them nearly fell when the entire city lurched.

"What was that?" Marie shouted to Azusa.

"Clairvoyance!" Azusa said, centering on Spirit. _'It's so easy to maintain resonance with him…' _She thought absentmindedly. "Marie, the city is moving! Lord Death is taking the fight to the kishin himself!"

"We have to get to Stein before we get any nearer to the kishin then!" Marie punctuated this by taking a corner at breakneck speed.

"Marie, wrong turn!" Azusa shouted over her shoulder, having to hold back a laugh at Marie's inability to know directions.

With Azusa leading it only took them a few minutes more to get to the room they had seen Stein in through the mirror. Marie stopped Azusa when she went to open the door, and opened it herself instead.

Stein lay in the middle of the floor, broken glass against the far wall. He was bleeding from a dozen small cuts that covered his chest and lower abdomen. Most disturbing though, was the fact that he was laughing.

Even as Marie ran to him screaming his name, Stein drew a piece of broken mirror over his stomach again, giggling at the sight of the blood running down his pale skin. As she knelt down to him, he suddenly focused on her and grabbed her wrist, twisting it.

"Stein, stop!" She screamed, Azusa just a step behind, grabbing Stein's hand.

"More noise!" He roared, standing, nearly breaking Marie's wrist as he twisted again. She cried out in pain, wrenching her arm in an attempt to get away from the meister.

A blast hit Stein square in the chest and its suddenness made him stumble and release Marie. He turned his wide eyed stare on Azusa, and charged her, _Soul Menace_ bright on his hands. Azusa dove to the side with just a second to spare.

"Marie!" Azusa turned her head and screamed at her. "You have to do something! I'll just hurt him!"

Stein's voice was too close. "Not if I hurt you first." Azusa wasn't fast enough; Stein caught her with both palms, his wavelength surging through her. Trapped between him and the wall, the woman had nowhere to go. She coughed blood, barely able to breathe, tears flowing down her face.

"Franken!"

Stein paused for a second, something in him trying to fight to the surface, and then brought his hand back down on Azusa's chest. Her vision swam. She had never felt pain like this.

Something slammed into Stein, and it and him went flying. It took Azusa a second to focus enough to see that it was Marie. She was glowing like the sun.

So was Stein. His wavelength danced around him, not limited to just his hands. As Azusa watched in horror, it flowed over Marie.

Marie screamed, almost losing herself in the pain, but she fought desperately. With her last bit of strength she channeled everything she had into her soul, and pushed towards Stein.

As Azusa watched, Marie collapsed against Stein.

* * *

Marie lay panting, tears flowing down her cheeks, her eyes tightly closed. Every inch of her hurt, and she was afraid to open her eyes.

"Ma'am?" A voice came from nowhere. "Ma'am are you ok?"

Marie cracked her eyes open, wincing at the pain. Crouching beside her was a young silver haired boy, a look of concern in his eyes. "Excuse me, are you alright?"

The voice was familiar.

"Stein…" She whispered, feeling herself waver.

The boy sat back on his heels. "How did you know that was my name?" He asked, not afraid, but curious.

Marie curled into herself, whimpering as a fresh wave of pain rolled over her.

"Ma'am?" He asked again.

"Stein… you have to wake up… come back to us…" She whispered desperately, the pain coursing through her too much for her to bear. She squeezed her eyes back shut, feeling tears come again.

Her entire body jerked when she felt the child reach out to touch her shoulder. "It's going to be alright, Ma'am."

Marie tried to focus her healing wavelength, but was so wracked with pain she nearly failed. She desperately reached out with it to the child sitting in front of her. She had to save him.

She was alone suddenly, the pain redoubling and she nearly screamed from its force.

She felt someone pick her up. Opening her eyes, the silver haired boy was gone, and Stein was holding her in his arms. All around them was a blank area, devoid of color. It seemed to stretch on and on.

"It's going to be alright, Marie." His voice was deeper, older; gentler. She whimpered at the pain as he started walking, cradling her to his chest. "We'll find a way out. It'll be alright." He whispered.

The pain overwhelmed her, and Marie lost her grasp.

* * *

Stein came to himself, Azusa standing unsteadily over him, her arm a crossbow like rifle. It was aimed directly at his head. Marie lay, shallowly breathing, maybe ten feet away.

"Marie…" He whispered, turning his head to look at her.

"Stein." Azusa's voice was pure pain, and she was holding her side with her untransformed arm.

He looked up at her. "Azusa… I'm… I'm sorry…" He trailed off, looking at Marie again. "I tried to distance myself. I didn't want to hurt anyone…"

Stein's head snapped to the side as Azusa slapped him before collapsing, her breathing ragged. The floor shifted as the city moved again and Azusa cried out in pain as she fell and slid. Stein reached out to grab her, and managed to catch Marie as well before the city righted itself.

"Azusa, what's happening?" He asked, releasing her arm, pulling Marie into his arms.

"Lord Death is moving the city. He's gone after the kishin." Azusa stopped to catch her breath. "There's already a force going against it. This should be the end, Stein."

Stein stood slowly to his feet. "Azusa, can you stand?"

She tried and failed.

Stein walked over, crouching in front of her. "I'll carry you and Marie. We have to get to the Death Room."

"I can catch up, Stein." She said stubbornly.

"You can't stand, much less walk. Don't be stupid, Azusa. You won't do any good here." There were emotions on his face that she had never seen before. Sighing, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and let him pick her up. She carefully wrapped her legs around his waist, using them to support herself as he couldn't because of carrying Marie.

They arrived shortly after Lord Death's battle with the kishin, and the subsequent hole that had been breached in the Death Room. Stein laid Marie down on the floor beside Lord Death, and Azusa slid off, Spirit supporting her despite his obvious wounds from the battle with the kishin. Stein sat with Marie's head laying on his leg, smoothing her hair, a worried look on his face.

They watched for what seemed like hours before the black sphere that the kishin had created dissipated, and they saw the team that Lord Death had spoke of standing amid the rubble.

The relief was instantaneous for Stein. The noise in his head ceased. He didn't have to fight the urge to dissect the woman laying against him. He didn't want to cut himself open currently. He dropped his head, unfamiliar emotions overwhelming him as the cheer went up from the gathered people.

He bent down and pressed his lips against Marie's, a silent tear falling against her cheek.

To his surprise, he felt a response. Looking down at her, Marie's eye slowly opened and she smiled up at him. Reaching up unsteadily to touch his cheek she whispered, _"Welcome home, Franken."_

* * *

**A/N: I want to say thank you to ****Eivexst**** and ****boob tube watcher3452. Both of you have reviewed every (or nearly every) chapter of this fic and In a Time of Need, and it is thanks to you that I keep churning out the chapters like I do. I appreciate all my reviewers, but these two deserve special thanks :)**

**And I have to say, I wrote this listening to "Broken Pieces" by Apocalyptica featuring Lacey from Flyleaf and just wow. It was like it was written for Marie to sing to Stein.**

**And yes, I ignored Medusa's involvement in the anime for this, but hey, I'm an author and I'm allowed to do that. Also, I am quite fond/proud of this chapter. Take that how you may. And no, I'm not telling you how the fight between Lord Death and the kishin went, I don't like repeating verbatim something that happens in the anime- just watch it :) **

**Love you all!**

**I don't own Soul Eater. Or the aforementioned song.**


	18. Joyous Celebrations

Stitches covered almost every available surface. They were on the chairs, the walls, the podium and the carpet. Stein's tuxedo was covered in them as well. Spirit tugged on the jacket of his tux, shaking his head at the stitches that also adorned it. Stein shot him a glance that literally said "One more move and I'll dissect you." Spirit stopped fidgeting and held his hands together in front of him.

The wedding party was actually quite small. Nygus and Azusa were with Marie; Sid and Spirit stood with Stein. Soul had volunteered to play for them. They had had to forcibly restrain Black*Star, who thought that he should have the ability to marry them, because he had "Surpassed God!" Justin Law was officiating for them. That left a ring bearer and flower girl. Marie and Azusa had been discussing it when Patty had overheard, and she had almost gone into hysterics begging to be. When Kid had found out, he had demanded that Liz be the ring bearer so that it would be symmetrical. When he found out that the ring bearer had to be male, he volunteered. It took him longer to get himself and Patty ready than it took to get Marie ready.

"_You know, Senpai, I haven't seen Marie's dress yet even." _Stein whispered out of the corner of his mouth when Soul started playing and Patty and Kid came down the aisle. Spirit only quietly chuckled. Nygus and Azusa followed them down the aisle, and then they were only waiting on Marie to make her way down to them.

Spirit heard Stein's quick intake of breath as Marie appeared at the end of the aisle. While everyone was watching the bride come down, Spirit took the ring from Kid. Nearly the entire school had shown up for the wedding.

Marie was beautiful. Her hair had been piled up on top of her head, and the beautiful white dress had intricate golden embroidery that just matched the color of her hair… and her left eye. Stein felt his knees go weak. She smiled so sweetly as she stepped up to stand in front of him. _'My angel…'_ He thought to himself as he reached out to take her hands. He glanced down to look at the dress and couldn't help but smirk when he saw stitching on the bottom of it. Heart shaped stitching.

He looked up at Marie and almost said something, but she just tilted her head to the side, closed her eyes and smiled.

"Dearly beloved…" Justin Law started, his eyes closed and making exaggerated hand gestures launching into the traditional wedding vows.

Stein closed his eyes, still struggling to understand all of the emotions that he was feeling; his hands tightening his grip on Marie. He felt her hands squeeze his in return.

"Do you take this woman…?"

"I do." Stein replied, with no hesitation.

"And do you take this man…?"

"I do." Marie's smile lit up the room.

"You may kiss the bride!" Justin proclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air.

Stein took a step towards her, wrapping his arms around her; the kiss was slow and full of everything that he still didn't understand. She wrapped her arms around his back and he felt her kiss him back. He also felt the wetness on her cheeks. _"Marie?"_ He whispered, pressing his cheek against hers.

"I love you, Stein!" She said, kissing him again.

"I love you too, Marie." He said truthfully before they walked the aisle together as man and wife.

* * *

"HEY PROFESSOR!" Black*Star's voice carried over the crowd of well-wishers. "JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU GET A TASTE OF THE CAKE THAT TSUBAKI MADE FOR YOU! SHE MAY HAVE SURPASSED GOD JUST MAKING IT!"

"Oh, Black*Star…" Tsubaki's voice admonished him.

Marie laughed beside him. "You know, he's right, Marie. We do need to try the cake, everyone is waiting for it."

Tsubaki had spent hours preparing, baking, and decorating the large cake. It was a beautiful white and gold cake; it matched Marie's dress almost perfectly. Stein smirked as he saw the same heart shaped stitches on the bottom of the cake that were on Marie's dress.

Stein fed Marie her piece of cake carefully- Marie wasn't so kind. He wound up with some cake in his hair and on the screw's head. He just shook his head and smirked before plastering a bit of it onto her cheek. She responded by kissing him, which nearly knocked him off balance and into the cake. Would have, had Spirit not caught him.

"Thanks, Senpai."

"Anytime, Kohai." Spirit grinned and Stein rolled his eyes.

"I thought you'd given up calling me that." Marie giggled at his side.

"Oh, I had. But…"

"But what, Spirit?"

"It seemed almost appropriate." Spirit laughed, and Stein noticed the empty glass in his hand and just shook his head.

"Where's Azusa, Spirit?"

The red-head looked up. "I have no clue." He blinked; eyes wide open afterwards. "I'll find her!"

As soon as Spirit walked off, Stein pulled Marie into his arms and kissed her again. "Well, Mrs. Stein, should we shuffle off while the masses are distracted by cake and each other?"

Marie pulled away, a mischievous grin on her face. "First you have to wait for your turn with me."

"Wait, what?" Stein asked as she pulled her hand free from his and moved into the crowd. That was when he noticed the line of people and the bowl that they were all dropping money into.

Stein laughed as he watched Marie dance briefly with each person in the line. After everyone had had a brief dance with her (and some twice) she held her hand out to him beckoningly.

"What was that all about?" He asked as they danced to the last song of the reception.

"It's a tradition. People pay to dance with the bride, and the newlywed couple uses the proceeds for things they'd need. I tried to tell them we didn't need it, but Liz and Patty were very adamant about it!" She laughed.

Stein just pulled her closer and buried his head against her shoulder. _"How much longer do we have to socialize?" _He whispered. He felt her laugh, and resisted the urge to kiss her neck, smiling.

"_Not much longer." _She promised. True to her word, guests began leaving soon after that, and within an hour everyone had gone except them and Spirit and Azusa.

* * *

Marie opened her eyes, luxuriating in the feel of the sheets and the crisp air outside them. She stretched slowly, and then curled up on her side against Stein. Stein just smiled, pulling her against him.

"So, Marie, what are we going to do today?" He asked.

"Well, we could go to the beach, or walk down the boardwalk." She laid her head against his shoulder. "Shopping, too."

He flipped her to where she was laying on top of him. "Or we could stay in." He said, smirking. She liked that option very much.

The rest of their honeymoon went about the same; room service was very happy with the tips indeed.

* * *

"Hurry up, Franken! Azusa will never forgive us if we're late!" Marie called up the stairs. Stein just grumbled.

"I still don't see what's wrong with my tux." He said, adjusting the clip on bow tie that Azusa wanted all of Spirit's half of the bridal party to where.

"It's Azusa wedding and she doesn't like stitches." Marie teased. Stein just grumbled, feeling quite uncomfortable in the unusual clothing. Marie fussed a bit over his attire, and then grabbed her purse and the pair left.

They arrived just before they were supposed to, and Marie launched into helping with the preparations. The ceremony was beautiful. Azusa and Spirit kept it small though, just close friends and family. There were only about 40 people present, and there would be no reception afterwards; apparently they wanted to leave immediately afterwards.

Azusa and Spirit made quite the cute couple, especially when Azusa nearly tripped walking down the aisle after the kiss and Spirit caught her.

* * *

**5 months after Azusa and Spirit's wedding, 13 after Stein and Marie's.**

"_Franken has conducted so many experiments on his own body that we've hit a slight snag in our family making plans. We've been trying for over a year and I still haven't gotten pregnant. I went, without Franken's knowing, to an OBGYN to make sure I wasn't infertile… and I'm not… I just don't know how to tell him… and it didn't make it any easier a couple nights ago when Spirit and Azusa came over for dinner and to tell us that she's expecting, and is already two months along! They looked so happy and all I wanted to do was break down and cry. I ended up going to do dishes while they talked with Franken. After all that we've been through, why should something so simple and natural as getting pregnant be so difficult for us?"_

Stein looked down at the sleeping woman beside him. He knew that he shouldn't be prying into her journal, but for once he was glad that he had. He laid his head back against the headboard of the bed, sighing.

'_I never knew how much it meant to Marie that she got to be a mother.' _He thought. _'It seems that it may be the one thing I can never give her if what's written here is correct.' _He felt an old sensation stir, and for once, embraced the desire to experiment on his own body. He carefully slipped out of bed, leaving Marie sleeping alone.

Entering the lab, he pulled on his lab coat and began to take samples of all the pertinent areas, measuring levels and freezing samples.

The next morning dawned to find him asleep at his computer, his glasses askew, a notebook nearly full with notes that he had taken before exhaustion claimed him. Marie just smiled and tsk'd at him, draping a blanket over him and wondering what could have had him working so hard.

She wondered that a lot over the next 9 months. Azusa and Spirit's son James was born, and Marie and Stein were named his godparents. About 3 months after he was born, Stein approached Marie with a serious look on his face.

"Marie, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it, Franken?" She asked, adjusting some flowers in a vase on the table.

He grabbed her hand to stop her and to get her to focus her full attention on him. "Is something wrong?" She asked suddenly, acutely aware of the pain in his face.

"Marie, I'm sorry. We've been married for nearly two years and I know how much you wanted to have a family. I know that I'm the one who's the problem here, and I've spent nearly the last year trying to find a way around it."

"Franken…" She whispered, letting the flower fall from her hand. "I don't have to have children to be happy with you."

"I want you to." He said, looking into her eye. "You want a family; it's been your dream since you were a child. I want to give you everything you ever want, Marie. That's why I've worked so much the last year. I think I have a solution, but I need your permission, Marie."

"You know I don't care what you do, Franken." She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Marie… I want to grow our child." He watched her closely.

"Grow?"

"In a tube, until it can be transplanted." He touched her stomach lightly. "I can't find a way for it to work unless we do that, but it will be our child. Our DNA. It just has to have a kick start."

Marie sat down heavily in the chair. "I… I don't understand."

"There's a chance that it won't work, or will take time for a viable embryo to start to grow, Marie. Once it does we can use it to let you get pregnant. It just removes me from the equation and adds… something like a turkey baster to it."

She couldn't help but giggle at him. It wasn't a joke, she could tell from looking at his face, but it was still cute. Then what he had been doing dawned on him, and her expression grew serious. "You've been working all of those late nights just for this, Franken?"

"Marie, I would do anything for you." He knelt in front of her and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, you know that."

It was too much. She cried into his shoulder, still amazed even now how far he had come at understanding the emotions that had been all but forced on him. He held her, a part of him demanding the answer to the question, wanting to continue the experiment that had started to consume him; the other part focused solely on her, wanting nothing more than to see her happy and smiling.

* * *

**A/N: So that was a hard chapter to write… the worst one I've had to do so far. I hope that it came out alright. Next chapter will be the last chapter in this part of the story, and we'll be starting with **_**ELSA **_**(which I've got a head start writing). Love you all! **

**I plan on starting a SteinxMarie one shots fic, and I'll continue updating the SpiritxAzusa one.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	19. A Broken Heart

"Stein wants to do what?!" Azusa exclaimed.

"Relax, Azusa!"

"Marie, he wants you to have a test-tube baby!" Azusa looked revolted by the fact.

"What's wrong with that, Azusa?" Marie asked. "It's not like it's going to be some stranger's DNA that he's using. It's going to be ours. It's not any different than the way you and Spirit got James!"

"But it is! It's cold and impersonal, Marie! It's just what I would expect from Stein! But you, I expected you to see reason!" Azusa stood, her hands on the table as she leaned in towards Marie.

"Get out." Marie stood as well, looking over at Azusa, her stare cold.

"Marie, listen to me!" Azusa reached out to grab her friend's hand. "There has to be another way!"

"Don't you think he's gone over every other possibility? Don't you think that he's fully analyzed the problem? Or are you saying that because we have a problem that Stein can fix, I shouldn't let him? That I should tell him to forget the last YEAR that he's spent trying to fix it; that we're not worth being parents because we can't have a child naturally, like you and Spirit? Are you saying that I shouldn't be a mother, and he shouldn't be a father?! GET OUT!" Maries head hung down, tears streaming from her eyes.

"Marie…" Azusa said gently.

"You have your son, why deny us our child? Get out Azusa. Just. Get. Out." Marie's hands were clenched into fists, hanging at her sides. "Go home to your husband. Go home to your _**child.**_" Marie's voice literally twisted the word into a curse. "Leave me here with mine."

Azusa looked down, then turned and left.

* * *

Stein heard the sobbing before he even opened the door that led into his lab.

"Marie?" He called out, stepping into the dark lab. The sobbing only intensified. He crossed to the light switch and turned it on, following the sobbing until he found Marie sitting in a corner. She held a small petri dish in her hands, the cover firmly on it; her tears landing on the cover and rolling off it. He recognized it; it was one of the dishes that held her eggs that they were trying to fertilize. They had been unsuccessful so far.

"Marie, what happened?" He moved to take the item from her, and she cradled it closer to her body. "Marie, talk to me…."

"Franken… I… I had a fight with Azusa. She said some things she can never take back…" She started sobbing again, her small frame wracked by the intensity.

Stein lowered himself to a sitting position beside her and pulled her into his arms. "Azusa is your best friend, Marie. I'm sure that whatever it was won't be the end of your friendship with her."

"You don't understand…" She whimpered.

"Then help me to, Marie." He smoothed her hair down, kissing her forehead.

She looked up at him and he saw the pain in her eyes. "She thinks what we're doing is an abomination, Franken… she just doesn't understand; she has her child already! She thinks we shouldn't do this… that it will be nothing like a natural child… Oh, Franken…" She broke off sobbing again.

Stein tightened his arms around her, whispering. "It's not an abomination, Marie. It's going to be our little bundle of joy, just like you've said before. It will be our child." He held her while she cried, ignoring the incessant ringing of the phone.

She fell asleep crying in his arms. He carefully picked her up and placed the petri dish back with the others, and carried her to their bedroom, smoothing the hair away from her face and pulling the blanket up and over her.

'_What could Azusa have been thinking? Marie's her best friend, why wasn't she just happy that Marie would get the chance to be a mother too?' _Stein just shook his head, walking towards his lab when he heard the front door open. Turning he walked back to the entrance and found Spirit standing just inside.

For a second the madness overwhelmed him and he pictured himself removing Spirit's ability to reproduce. Permanently. He fought back the laughter that welled up within him and stood there staring at Spirit, one hand moving to twist the screw in his head.

"Why are you here?" He finally asked.

"Stein, I want to apologize for what Azusa did."

"I'm not the one to apologize to and you're not the one that needs to." Stein said simply, turning his back on his oldest friend, anger growing by the second.

"Stein, Marie told her to leave. Azusa's afraid to come back."

Stein craned his head back to look over his shoulder. "She should be. If she comes back before Marie gives her permission I'll dissect her." His voice was cold and deadly. Spirit paled and gulped.

'_He's completely serious.' _Spirit thought. "Stein, Azusa didn't mean it."

"I don't believe you, Spirit." Stein said, still walking away. "Azusa may not have meant to hurt Marie, but she meant what she said. Spirit, get out." The metal doors closed behind him, leaving Spirit standing alone.

Spirit stood there, shocked by Stein's actions. _'It was a misunderstanding. Azusa was just shocked by the news. She didn't know how to respond. She didn't mean any of it. Marie's her best friend for crying out loud! She would never do anything to hurt her…' _Shaking the shock off, Spirit turned and left, pulling the door shut behind him.

* * *

Stein sat in his lab, carefully injecting another egg with a single sperm. It had been two months since Marie's fight with Azusa and he hadn't seen Spirit or Azusa since. Spirit had called once, trying to get Marie to talk to Azusa, but that hadn't panned out. They still hadn't had any luck with fertilizing an egg, but Stein wasn't going to give up.

There was a knock on the lab door, and Stein turned to see who it was. Marie wouldn't have knocked. To his surprise, Spirit was standing in the door. Stein simply turned his back on him and went back to his work.

"Stein, we need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you, Spirit. I have important work to get to. You can see yourself out." Stein bent his head down over the dish, watching the image that was magnified on the screen sitting on his desk, attempting to fertilize yet another egg.

He stiffened when he felt Spirit's hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me, Stein."

"Remove your hand."

"Only if you'll listen to me, Stein."

Stein stood, towering over Spirit. "You need to leave, Spirit. I will not have you here just to remind Marie of her fight with Azusa. If Azusa has something to say to Marie she can call and politely ask if Marie will take her call. If Marie decides to take the call, then she can speak to her."

"Shut up." Spirit just stared up at Stein. "I get it. You're protecting Marie. You're also hurting her, Stein. Azusa's her best friend, but she's too terrified to come here and apologize because of you. She never meant to hurt Marie- she was just shocked by the news. Azusa's never been good at hiding her opinion- but that doesn't mean that she thinks the two of you won't make great parents. She just wants to apologize, but you two haven't answered your damn phone for over a month, and she's been banned from coming here."

Stein looked up as he heard the lab door shut, briefly catching a glimpse of Marie's hair before it moved out of sight. He pushed past Spirit, almost running to catch up to Marie. She stood in the entry way to the lab, her shoulders shaking with the force of her tears. Stein looked up and saw Azusa standing there, her five month old son in her arms.

It was too much. Azusa was hurting Marie. The madness rushed over him before he could fight it and it took all that he had not to lunge at them. He felt Marie's warmth flowing over him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her sobbing body close to him.

"Leave. Both of you." He said through gritted teeth. "You're her friend, Azusa. I can't believe that after doing what you did you'd come here with him."

"James. His name is James, Stein." She said uncertainly. "It's James Franken Albarn."

Stein felt his eyes grow wide. They had never told him their son's middle name before. He felt Marie stiffen in his arms, her sobs growing louder.

"What?" He asked, almost in a whisper.

"We didn't tell you, Stein." Spirit said quietly from behind him. "After what happened we didn't think that it would be the best time to tell you."

"Then why come now?" He asked.

"Because Azusa wants to apologize. She wants her friend back." Spirit placed his hand on Stein's back before pulling him and Marie both into a hug. "I want mine back, too." He whispered.

Marie stopped crying, and stood up. "Azusa?" She said quietly.

"Marie." There was relief in Azusa's voice.

"Give James to Spirit." Marie smiled.

Azusa looked confused for a second, then smiled and handed James to Spirit. She walked outside with Marie and then both men heard a tremendous boom. Stepping out they couldn't help but laugh as Marie's arm transformed back from a hammer and she said with a content smile on her face, "I forgive you."

Azusa just rubbed the side of her face, muttering, "I knew the Pulverizer wouldn't stay angry forever…"

* * *

A month later Stein managed to get one of the eggs to fertilize, and then implanted it into Marie*. The next five months were the happiest of Marie's life. She had Stein, she was going to have their child, and nothing could go wrong.

The miscarriage nearly killed her.

* * *

Stein sat beside the bed, holding her hand in his, trying to ignore the pain that threatened to sweep him away. Marie hadn't stopped crying in almost a week, in fact, she hadn't gotten out of bed. Neither one of them had slept much. Every time that Stein closed his eyes he could still see how he had found her, unconscious on the floor, blood all around her.

He shook his head, then climbed into bed, wrapping his arms around his wife, completely clueless about how to help her.

"Franken?" She whispered, her voice so small and quiet he barely heard her.

He pulled her close. "Marie?"

"I want to try again." She sounded desperate.

"Are you sure?" He asked quietly.

"It will work… it has to…" She started to cry again, and he kissed the top of her head, tucking the blanket around her.

"We'll try, Marie."

"It'll work…" She repeated, finally drifting off to sleep.

* * *

When the next morning came, Marie found Stein asleep in the lab again. He woke as she entered.

"Marie, are you sure?" His voice was tired.

"I am." She smiled.

He wrapped his arms around her, laying his head on her chest. "Alright, Marie."

The next three weeks were tense, but Stein finally got another egg and sperm to cooperate and grow the way they should, and Marie underwent the procedure again to have it implanted.

* * *

She had made it past the critical stage. Marie reached down and touched her stomach with a look of wonder on her face. She was nearly eight months pregnant, and it was all she could do most days to not squeal with joy. She had had an incredibly easy pregnancy, not even experiencing much morning sickness.

She looked up as Stein came in, carrying a bag that she knew probably contained more vitamins and supplements that he expected her to take every day.

"More pills?" She asked, laughing.

"Nope." He said, a smirk on his face.

"Then what?" She gasped as he pulled an outfit out of the bag. It was a beautiful little white dress, but Stein had Stein-ed it up, stitching covered it. She burst out laughing. "That's gorgeous, Franken! So perfect."

"I'm glad you like it, Marie." He crossed to her, giving her the bag. Running his hand across her stomach briefly, he allowed himself a smile.

'_We're going to have a little girl.' _He thought suddenly. _'I still haven't told her what the child is going to be.' _He grinned as she yelled at him.

"You brought a suit too!"

His chuckle followed him into the lab.

* * *

**A/N: And… the end? Don't worry, the next chapter of their life is continued in the Story **_**"Heart Shaped Stitches: Elsa" **_**which I hope to have the first bit posted before I go to bed. If I don't, then it'll go up sometime between 5 and 8pm EST.**

**Also, I did a TON of reading about IVF (**_**In Vitro Fertilization) **_**for this. The results were so wordy that I didn't want to ruin the flow of the story with stuff that you'd have to just look up. Suffice it to say, it's not a definite guarantee of pregnancy or even live birth, so be happy for the good doctor and his wife!**

**Thank you all for reading. I hope that you all will continue reading **_**Elsa.**_** Love you all!**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	20. The Scientist

**A/N: As with In a Time of Need, this is now a series of oneshots. They won't be in chronological order or anything, so please, enjoy.**

**It's not often that I say that another author inspired me, but if you don't like this, you have SilverBelle11 to blame. Her beautifully written story Divine Symphony suggested that her readers listen to a song by Cold Play while reading it. One of the suggestions on youtube was another song by Cold Play entitled The Scientist. That song grew this, so without SilverBelle this one shot would never have been. Thank you SilverBelle! I do suggest listening to the song, as well.  
**

**I hope that you all enjoy this- I love you all :)**

**I don't own Soul Eater or Cold Play's stuff I referenced.**

* * *

Stein walked, not knowing where he was going. The rain that was falling threatened to put out the cigarette that hung limply from his lips, the ash desperately needing knocked off. His left hand was constantly turning the screw in his head, but no matter how many times he turned it he couldn't make sense of what had just happened.

Marie had left him. She had come and said something to him while he was working, he didn't even know what she had said, and when he had come out of the lab an hour later everything she had was gone and he had found a note on the table, addressed to him; the note that he still held crumpled in his right hand.

_**Franken... I love you. I hope that you know that I truly mean that when I say it. I just don't know that you truly mean it. Do you even understand what it means, or are you just parroting what I say back to me, not grasping the full meaning of it? You asked me to marry you, and then you act as if you don't care if I'm there or not, locking yourself in your lab for days on end. I tried to understand, I truly did. I tried to accept you, but it seemed that everytime I got closer to you, you just pushed me away again. I love you, but I can't let you break my heart again. Oh, Death, I love you more than anything.**_

Tears stained the bottom of the note, the only signature on it. Stein looked down at it, trying to cope with the unfamiliar emotions. Marie doubted him, he had hurt her.

"Marie..." He whispered, crushing the note in his hand. "Where did you go?" He wondered aloud, turning the screw again. A car rushed past him, throwing water up and soaking him, but he barely noticed, lost in his own thoughts.

"Stein?" The scientist looked up to see Spirit walking towards him, an umbrella over his head. Apparently the vehicle that had splashed him had been Spirit's.

"Senpai..." Stein started, but couldn't get anything else out. He crumpled the note further in his hand as ash fell from his cigarette.

"Stein, what are you doing out in this weather? You must be worrying Marie to death. Let's get you back to the lab." Spirit reached out for Stein's shoulder, moving him under the umbrella.

Stein stood mutely, then turned to Spirit and handed him the note. Spirit looked oddly at Stein then read the wet note.

"Stein, I'm sorry... You have to talk to Marie." Spirit said, motioning for Stein to get into the car.

"Senpai, I don't know where she is. I came to look for her, but the rain started and I can't find her."

Spirit looked over at the soaked meister, and sighed. "Stein, I'm pretty sure I know where to find Marie. Azusa said something earlier about going to her house for a bit for some stuff. She wouldn't elaborate when I asked and she acted like something was wrong. I tried to push but she left."

The look on Stein's face was all that Spirit needed to see. As much as he may hate to admit it, Stein was one of his best friends. Hell, he'd known the man for what, almost twenty years now? Close enough. He turned the car around and drove to Azusa's.

* * *

Marie sat in Azusa's living room, sobbing into her tea while her friend vainly tried to comfort her.

"Marie, you know that Stein loves you. You also knew when you agreed to marry him that Stein's not a normal person; that doesn't mean he loves you any less just because he can actually focus for days on his work." Azusa said, rubbing Marie's back slowly.

"I know he does, Azusa, but does he really understand it? He acts like I'm furniture sometimes..." Marie broke off.

"Have you seen the way that he looks at you, Marie? It's obvious that he understands that he loves you. I'm sure-" Whatever Azusa was going to say was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"I'll get it, Marie. Just drink your tea."

Marie sat there sniffling until she heard who was at the door, then she stood to move to stand in the doorway of the living room. He was soaked, water dripping from his labcoat onto Azusa's carpet. His glasses were covered in droplets and his hair was plastered to his head.

"Marie..." He said quietly, looking past Azusa at her. "Marie... I'm sorry. Whatever I did, tell me and I'll try again to do it right."

Marie wrapped her arms around herself, tears coming again. Azusa just raised an eyebrow and stepped to the side. Stein took this as an invitation to come in out of the rain and moved to Marie, wrapping his arms around her. "Marie, I love you." He whispered in her ear.

Sobs wracked her body as she felt the cold wetness leech into her. She clung to him though, afraid of losing him again. "Franken, don't leave me alone again." She whispered.

His eyes widened as he realized what he had done. He had spent the entire day in the lab yesterday. He had missed her birthday, had left her alone on the one day that she had been looking forward to for months. "Marie, I am sorry. Please, come home. Let me make it up to you."

He felt her nod against his chest and hugged her closer. "Let's go back to the start."


End file.
